Snow White - Aqua Blue
by AquaStormXIV
Summary: Snow White AU. None in the land is fairer than the Queen. Or so one would think… In a nearby village lives a girl named Aqua Blue whose pure heart outshines the Queen. The Queen, threatened by Aqua's existence, sends men to kill her, including her own son, Terra, but something rather unexpected happens when Terra meets the girl he's supposed to kill… TerraxAqua
1. Prologue

**Snow White – Aqua Blue**

**Wow, it's been a while since I've written anything, hasn't it. Well, I should be working on a book or something, but since this plot bunny has been bugging me for a few months (possibly even years because of playing Terra's storyline in BBS), I decided to write it.**

**A warning for the faint of heart, this is not your Disney Snow White, it's actually a bit more like Snow White and the Huntsman (don't own it, just love it).**

**I've been obsessed with the Snow White fairytale since I saw 'Snow White and the Huntsman' last year as well as since playing Terra's story in BBS at the start of Dwarf Woodlands. As well as a new book series I've been reading called ****The Grimm Diaries****, in which Snow White is a key character to the plot. (It's really good, I highly recommend reading it if you like fairytales or a good dark fantasy. But right now, only the prequels for the series are out. The first book in the series, ****Snow White Sorrow****, won't be out until May 22. I'm excited to read it.**

**Anyway, I kept thinking, what if Aqua was Snow White… Then, this story came out.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Snow White.**

**Prologue**

* * *

Once upon a time, in a land far away **(1)**, was a beautiful kingdom called Radiant Garden, ruled by a wise sage named Ansem. He ruled his kingdom with fairness and justice, but as great as he seemed to his people, he was very lonely. Ansem was growing rather old, and wanted an heir to pass the kingdom down to when he died.

As luck would have it, he met a beautiful lady who bore him a son. She was so beautiful that the people said she made Radiant Garden even more radiant. They named their son Terra and the kingdom rejoiced for Ansem's happiness with a new wife and son.

But within three years, Ansem passed away of an illness, leaving the kingdom in the hands of his wife, who then revealed her true colors.

She was as vain as she was beautiful. Nothing short of being absolutely flawless and beautiful pleased her. And she kept a deadly secret.

She'd once been a princess of the kingdom Hollow Bastion and exiled for using dark magic. But her father saw this to his advantage, he'd been bored of not being able to expand his kingdom and used her exile to send her to Ansem. Her feminine charms would do the rest. And once Ansem was dead, she'd allied the two kingdoms and they started to take whatever they wanted and pleased. She used dreadful army of Heartless, monsters born from the darkness of humans' hearts, to take the lives of anyone who opposed her and her father's will.

Radiant Garden was now a part of Hollow Bastion. And the once beautiful kingdom was now a barren wasteland. The Queen did not think this, though.

Darkness was beautiful, she was beautiful. She was so caught up in herself, she believed the world only needed darkness and her beauty to make the world beautiful.

And every day, she asked a magic mirror she kept in her possession a special question…

"Mirror, Mirror, on the wall…  
Who is fairest of them all?"

And every day, the mirror answered…

"_It is you, my Queen. You are the fairest, true…  
But in time, there will come a day where there will be one fairer than you.  
Beware, my Queen, for purest light,  
Never gives up in the darkest of fights…"_

The Queen had nothing to fear, so long as she heard the answer she wanted… She was the fair, beautiful, dark light. And that was all she needed, all the world needed, she thought.

Prince Terra was tired of his mother's pointless behavior. She was vain and selfish, she hardly even cared for him anymore. Terra spent so little time with her once he turned thirteen. He trained to be a knight, hoping to fight and be out in battle as much as possible, so he wouldn't have to be near his mother at all.

She often begged him to spend time with his 'beautiful' mother, but he didn't want it. Terra knew what she was. He saw nothing of fairness in his mother. All he saw was an old hag with an evil heart.

He was patient though. He'd spied on his mother and her magic mirror, wondering when the next 'fairest of them all' would rise. He swore to protect them at no matter the cost. And when that time came, he would abandon his mother.

'_I swear… on my father's grave… I will protect whoever surpasses my mother…'_ Terra promised. _'No matter who that is. I will lend them my blade. And with their aide, I will topple her throne…'_

But in a small village north of Radiant Garden, just along its boundaries, where the Queen's darkness barely touched was a young widow. Her husband had died in war rebelling against the Queen within months of Ansem the Wise's death, but he'd left her pregnant with a baby.

Her husband had come from a village by the sea. He'd told her tales of the beautiful blue color. He'd even had blue hair himself. The woman wished to see this beautiful blue before she died…

Anyway, one snowy day, the woman had gone out to gather firewood for her and her mother to warm their house in the deepest cold of winter. She'd cut herself on a sharp thorn and three drops of blood fell onto the snow.

And because the red seemed so alive against the white, she thought, _'If only I had a child as white as snow, lips as red as blood, hair and eyes as blue as the clearest sea. And her heart… her heart will shine. My daughter of the water…'_

Within a month's time, in the deepest part of winter, her daughter was born, just as she'd wished. Her daughter of the water was born with lips red as blood, skin white as snow, and her hair and eyes were blue as the clearest ocean. A daughter of the water indeed.

The woman named her beautiful daughter Aqua Blue with her dying breath and left the child in the care of her grandmother. The baby cried without her mother there, but the grandmother comforted the sweet child and promised she would always care for this special baby.

And she was adored by everyone who met her. As much for her tender spirit as for her beauty.

Anyone who met Aqua Blue couldn't help but love her. In a time of darkness, she was the only light left in the world.

And as the days passed, Aqua Blue grew more and more beautiful from a child of water into a water maiden. Not an ounce of the Queen's darkness touched her. And her mere presence made everyone around her happy. She kept the village alive in the darkness. Many young men even asked her to marry them, but she politely turned them down. They left with complete understanding, but made it their personal responsibility to protect her, but she politely asked them to turn that attention to protecting the village. While her purity kept the Queen's darkness away, it didn't prevent invasion from the Heartless and the occasional bandits. At the water maiden's request, the men promptly took to defending their home and its precious light.

And for a time, things were peaceful…

But not all things were to stay peaceful for Aqua Blue…

For a great destiny was to unfold for her, come her sixteenth birthday…

* * *

**(1)- Yes, I did the oh-so-cliché **_Once upon a time, in a land far away_.

**Alright, so there's the start. I hope I can keep you guys interested enough to keep going.**

**Yes, the script is a little similar to the prologue section of the fairytale and the movie, but I'm referencing it, so please just go with it.**

**Another note, I won't be able to post another chapter until later this week. I have finals in school. Hate it…**

**Please let me know what you think?**

**Catch ya later!**


	2. Magic Mirror

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Snow White.**

**Chapter 1 – Magic Mirror**

* * *

_-The Queen-_

The Queen rose from her bed with all the grace she could muster, and she could muster quite a bit. The only light in her room was from the dim candles a servant would come to light for her at least an hour before she woke. It never woke her. The Queen slept soundly for a precise amount of time every evening.

Anyway, she got up to remove her dressing gown and pull on a corset that she called a servant girl to help it lace up. It didn't bother her. She'd had years of practice at standing ramrod straight with the barrel-like constrictor.

Then, the servant girl helped her into her gown for the day. The Queen always picked out a gown the night before and hung it on her wardrobe door. Today's choice was a forest green number with red and golden embroidery.

Now to add the final piece, her crown.

The Queen never let anyone handle her crown, a gleaming golden circlet encrusted with rubies, pearls, and emeralds and only she could handle it. It was a stunning ornament, really, the Queen's crown. Anyone would agree with that. And the only other time someone else handled a crown of hers was when it was still being crafted. She polished it, dusted it, and placed it on her head every morning. No one else could touch it.

After placing it on her head, she rose from the chair by her vanity and left her bed chamber.

* * *

_-Terra-_

Terra hated his life. He was a prince, granted anything and everything he wanted. Except freedom to leave.

Oh, how he wanted nothing more than to leave this horrible place, the once Radiant Garden, and live a new life somewhere else.

He was a captain in the army, not the Queen's army, his father's. He refused to think it was her army. Many soldiers fought in loyalty to the late Sage Ansem, and Terra made that vow to do the same when he'd joined the army at age fifteen.

That had been four years ago. Terra was now a man of nineteen.

"Good morning, my son," the Queen called from down the hall.

_Speak of the she-devil…_

The Queen thought her son didn't know about her poisoning his father. Terra scoffed. Of course he knew. Cloud, his best friend and the man who raised him, had happened to eavesdrop on the Queen as she planned to poison Sage Ansem. Cloud had told him this when Terra was five. Terra hadn't trusted his mother since. He'd seen her as spawn of the devil, as dark as she was.

Terra merely nodded his head to her and continued on his way.

Terra hated that woman so much. Sometimes he even hated that he shared some of his physical traits with her. He had her earth-brown hair and cobalt-blue eyes, but he spent enough time outside in the sun that his skin was tanned, whereas she had very pale skin.

He'd also inherited some dark powers from the witch. He could manipulate energy from the shadows and sense darkness. Unfortunately, darkness also had a scent. He could feel it like you felt the sun beating on your back, which he tolerated, but smelling it was absolutely appalling to him.

Most people's scents he could tolerate because everyone had darkness in them. The small traces of darkness most people didn't really smell at all. But the darker a person was, the more foul they smelled.

The Queen's stench was the worst of all. She smelled like the foulest pit of rotting, putrid darkness out there. It made Terra sick.

Cloud had consoled him though. He said Terra inherited his father's inbred charisma and wisdom. Most, if not all, the soldiers under his command would give their lives for Terra. But he put them ahead of himself. He felt protecting others was what still kept him rooted to the world and not as dark as he could be. Sometimes he wanted nothing more than to sink into the darkness and disappear.

At least then he wouldn't have to put up with his intolerable mother.

_"Wishful thinking,"_ he thought.

He reached the courtyard where his soldiers were training and picked up his sword.

Cloud had had it made for him as a birthday present when he'd joined the army. Terra had named it _Ends of the Earth_, a place he very much wanted to disappear to if it would rid him of his mother, but he'd named it because in the days when Radiant Garden was still beautiful, it was said from the highest point of the tower, you could see the very ends of the earth.

Now, dark clouds that always shrouded the kingdom were the only thing you could see if you tried looking around the place.

The sword was beautifully crafted though. The blade was a wide, long one made of pure bronze and the guards (two across from each other) was a jade blue color, crafted in a funny wing-like shape each with a small blue bar connecting them to the tip of the grip.

And hanging from the end was a keychain. The dark silver links were round and at the end was a funny black fleur-de-lis with a red gem in the center. Cloud said it had been his father's own personal insignia.

And he started to train until he was drenched in bucketfuls of sweat. Anything to keep his mind off his mother.

* * *

_-The Queen-_

Oh, how her pitiful son, Prince Terra, refused her company. She had done everything for his own good. She'd made sure to marry Sage Ansem so she could bear his heir and be able to have some hold of power in Radiant Garden. Then she'd poisoned him in the midst of an illness (a perfect cover up, making it look like the illness took his life).

The Queen simply sighed and returned to her course. The throne room.

Or rather, the room behind it…

The Queen had a special hidden room, the door was hidden in the drapes that hung against the wall behind her throne. The room itself was kept completely dark, except for the dim light of the candles. The Queen thought she looked more beautiful in darkness with candlelight illuminating her face.

She lit each candle slowly, taking her time. She couldn't wait to perform her special ritual, but she knew nothing would go wrong when she was in this room, her happy place.

With the last candle lit, she approached the mirror on the wall.

Black drapes hung around the mirror, adding to the Queen's preferred darkness in the room. She always asked this mirror a rather special question and the spirit inside would answer her. In the mirror, the spirit inhabited her reflection and it spoke to her in her voice, giving her any answer to any question she asked it. The spirit knew all and saw all. But it always answered the truth. So as long as she had this mirror, the Queen would know everything she needed to know.

The Queen approached it, taking in her own radiance before asking the question, "Mirror, Mirror, on the wall… Who is fairest of the all?"

It would give the answer she wished. It always did.

The frame glowed with a faint green light and the Queen's reflection spoke to her.

But the mirror gave a different answer on this day.

_"My Queen, I can no longer tell you the answer you wish to hear.  
Today is a very important day. A young maiden has come to her sixteenth year.  
The heart of this maiden doth shine bright…  
She is the only light in this darkest night."_

"So what?" the Queen asked. What did a pure heart have to do with answering her question? Pure hearts were few and far between. Nothing special other than being impervious to darkness. And the Queen hardly cared if they were. Those lights could easily be extinguished…

_"My Queen, for years, you've been fairest, it's true.  
But this young maiden is fairer, even more than you…"_

"Impossible!" Though the mirror had warned in the past that a day would come when a maiden fairer than her would come, she didn't believe it. She thought for certain that she'd always be the fairest. No one was more beautiful than her.

"Who is it…?" she asked hesitantly.

Instead of answering at first, the mirror swirled and showed an image other than the Queen's. The mirror showed not a reflection, but something new entirely.

A young girl dressed in rags was tending to a fire in a small house. Her long hair was bluer than the deepest ocean. Her skin, white as snow, glowed in the fire light, and her lips were so red, the color of blood. And her eyes shown with a mystifying light in their blue depths.

_"If you wish to be rid of her, call your soldiers forth,  
This maiden lives in the small village to the north.  
Her name is Aqua Blue, know this, O Queen,  
For your undoing, she is the key…"_

With that said, the mirror's light dimmed and it went silent.

Aqua Blue…

This one girl was the key to her undoing…? A heart of light indeed. Only a heart of light could eliminate the beautiful darkness she'd thrust upon the land.

No matter, the Queen would get what she wanted. She always did.

And at this very moment, she wanted that girl Aqua Blue dead.

* * *

**I figured I should tell you guys, if it isn't obvious already, there are going to be lots of references to other Snow White adaptations I know of, as well as _Kingdom Hearts_ and _Final Fantasy_ references. When I finish the story, I will post after the final chapter a list of the references made in each chapter. That way my author notes about the references don't take up most of the word count. (I've gotten OCD about that.)**

**Also, the Queen isn't any particular character. She's just an evil Queen. So, you can put whichever wicked witch you want in her shoes. Maleficent, Larxene, Jihl Nabaat, etc. Go crazy. She's just an evil woman.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to let me know what you thought.**


	3. Village Life

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Snow White.**

**A/N: Just spent an awesome weekend with my grandparents. Thank you for believing in me and always being there! This is dedicated to you!**

**Chapter 2 – Village Life**

* * *

_-Aqua Blue-_

Aqua Blue rose from her bed slowly, afraid of getting a headache if she got up too fast. She hated that, it wasn't pleasant.

She grabbed her hair brush from her bedside table and walked over to the black-spotted mirror next to her window, which still had the dark blue curtains drawn over it. She kept the curtains drawn from night until she was dressed the next morning (to prevent prying eyes). Aqua Blue liked keeping her room dark in the morning, the dark was more soothing, more relaxing.

She reached for the small box of matches she kept on the dresser and lit the white candle she kept there as well and lit it. Just enough light to see her clothes and her reflection to brush her hair. As she ran the brush through her long blue hair, Aqua Blue couldn't help but notice, as she did every day since she'd started wearing it long, with its color, it almost looked like she was brushing a waterfall. And when she was finished, she tossed it onto the bed next to the Moogle doll she'd had since she was a baby, named Mog.

Aqua Blue then turned to the chair beside her dresser where she'd lain out her clothes for the day. They consisted of a white long-sleeved shirt with a collar, a dark blue vest lined with pink ribbon in a criss-cross design along her sides, black pants, her favorite silvery-blue sash around her waist, and comfortable, brown, leather, knee-high boots.

Aqua Blue absolutely refused to wear corsets or dresses. Corsets were as uncomfortable as could be and dresses always got in your way when walking. They were a pain. She never understood why people wore them. She'd worn pants as long as she could remember. The last time she'd probably worn a dress was as a baby.

As she was finished dressing, Aqua Blue assessed her reflection, making sure she looked ready for the day. Her long blue hair was braided down her back so as to stay out of her face, except for those few choppy bangs that sat around her forehead and ears. Her blood red lips were plump and shiny, something as natural as her hair, and her skin. Her skin had never changed from its snowy whiteness since she'd been born.

After she was finished wither her assessment, Aqua heard her grandmother's voice call from another room, "Aqua, please go check on Cobalt."

"Coming, Grandma!" she responded.

She loved her name because it was very her, but Aqua Blue tended to prefer being called Aqua because it was shorter and slightly easier to remember. She had requested this of her grandmother when she was seven and they had stuck to it ever since.

She walked out of the room into the tiny multipurpose kitchen/living area where her grandmother was knitting a dark blue scarf that looked like it was nearing completion. It probably only needed the finishing touches. And by finishing touches, Aqua's grandmother put some funny little balls on the completed end of the scarf, "To give it character," she always said. Every piece of Aqua's clothing that her grandmother had made had "character" to it.

Of course, it usually intended making Aqua look feminine even in her boy-like clothing. For example, her vest squished her breasts a little too tightly, but thank goodness her shirt's highest button was just above that area, and that pink ribbon on it, Aqua wanted it to be white, but her grandmother had insisted on pink. She said pink looked wonderful with her snowy skin. And even though her pants were warm, they were skin tight, showing off her long, thin legs with absolutely no effort.

Aqua was too polite to complain. And she loved her grandmother and her handy work.

"This should be done later," her grandmother said, "But I need some more yarn to complete it. Could you go to town and pick some up when you go to get food today, please?"

"Yes, Grandma," Aqua said, stopping by the kitchen table to grab a small bread roll and proceeding to eat it. The inside was filled with raspberry jam that she just loved to no end, but it always stained her mouth magenta.

"Do you think you'll take Cobalt, today?" her grandmother asked.

"I think so," Aqua had finished her roll and now was using a napkin to clean her face. She swiped a mint leaf out of the bowl they kept on the table that was full of them. (For removing morning and after-meal breath.) "He could use some exercise."

"Then, I won't stop you," her grandmother smiled at her as Aqua grabbed her dark brown coat from the hook beside the door and slipped it on. She felt a pouch of money slap against her leg from inside the pocket. "Have a good time in town."

"Yes, Grandma," Aqua smiled back and headed out the door.

A small stable lived right next to her house where Aqua's horse Cobalt lived. Cobalt was the horse offspring of the horse her father had come to town on years and years ago. The father horse, Striker, was too old to ride now, but he was often used now for breeding. There were few horses in town who weren't Striker's offspring.

Aqua had named her horse Cobalt because of his perfectly cobalt-colored eyes. But his body fur was a soft reddish color and his legs a deep red-brown. All-in-all, he was an absolutely beautiful horse.

After saddling up Cobalt and attaching her saddle bags and a basket, Aqua led Cobalt out of the stable, also making sure to feed him an apple she'd swiped from inside. (Cobalt _loved_ apples.) And when he was finished, she jumped up onto her steed's back and they were off. The town was close enough Aqua could walk to it, but she wanted to take Cobalt since he hadn't been out in a few days and she loved riding him.

Riding Cobalt was always wonderful. Aqua felt so free with the wind racing through her hair, though she didn't really care for the cold stinging on her cheeks.

They got to town after about ten minutes of riding. At the edge of town was a post where you could tie up your horse and they could drink or graze while you were doing your errands. Aqua tied Cobalt up to this very post, and he thankfully wasn't alone, another horse was tied to the opposite end of the post, and she retrieved her basket from the saddle as well as one of her saddlebags before heading into the town itself.

"Good morning, Aqua!" the baker called once he saw her.

"Hi!" Aqua waved at him.

"Aqua!" a village boy her age, Demyx, called to her.

"Good morning, Demyx."

Aqua said nothing more and continued walking past him. Demyx had fallen hard for Aqua three years ago after she'd helped him with some bullies. They'd said his sitar playing was horrible, Demyx had just started learning, and Aqua told them to leave him alone. She thought they needed to give him a break. Demyx had been infatuated with Aqua ever since, even though she always politely turned him down.

It didn't stop Demyx from trying to change Aqua's mind though.

The same story went for Zack, who finally settled down six months ago when he met a girl from the flower shop named Aerith. The flower shop's owner Marluxia began to show interest in Aqua after that day, but after being turned down twice, he accepted her choice, but still gave her a flower like a gentleman every time he saw her. Even a man named Luxord has once expressed interest in her, before Zack glared at him and then he revealed he actually was just curious in her gambling ability. Luxord gave an interested look to just about anyone he hadn't bested in card games yet.

Many people in the village often told Aqua Blue how beautiful she was, but it didn't really mean too much to her. Everyone looked at her outer appearance, as lovely as she knew it was to most. But she didn't understand it. To her, she looked like herself, no more and no less.

Just striding past Demyx and every other man or boy who wanted to talk to her, except for the shop owners, Aqua proceeded to run her errands.

* * *

_-The Queen-_

The Queen was ready to send out her soldiers to eliminate that stupid girl, Aqua Blue. All she needed to do was ask the Magic Mirror once again for the girl's exact location.

"Mirror, Mirror, here with me,  
Give me the answers that I seek.  
Aqua Blue's location, tell me now,  
Where to go, and how?"

The mirror shimmered with its faint, green light, and her reflection spoke,

"_She lives in a village north of the borders.  
Your soldiers are waiting, go give your orders.  
But know this, O Queen, you will be betrayed,  
Someone close to you, will become your prey."_

The Queen simply scowled at her reflection, but stopped, remembering frowning caused wrinkles.

Why would anyone want to betray her? It was foolishness. Betraying her meant death for whoever was foolish enough to attempt it.

Ignoring the warning of betrayal, the Queen left and called a servant to bring her a map, to seek out villages north of her kingdom's borders. Luckily, there was only one, just north of the borders and a few miles east.

In possession of the knowledge she wanted, the Queen ascended to her throne to call the soldiers she wanted specifically to eliminate her cause of worry, Aqua Blue.

"Call my son to me," she told her guards. "Bring me Terra."

* * *

**I almost made Cobalt a chocobo rather than a horse, but I decided against it. But I needed to keep the Moogle in the story though. (I love Mog. Moogles! I wanna cuddle them, kupo!)**

**Just so you guys know, since I've said she prefers just Aqua to her full name, I will probably alternate between the two in narrator dialogue, and of course when people address her. Just a heads up.**

**The Queen wasn't originally going to be in this chapter, but I wanted it to be longer. Eh… (shrug)**

**Also, it's not a reference, but I was thinking about Terra asking the Magic Mirror for Xehanort's location in **_**Birth by Sleep**_** when I wrote the part with the Queen. Specifically, the Queen and the Mirror's lines.**

**I'll get cranking on chapter 3. Try to have it up soon. In the mean time, how was this chapter?**


	4. Prince of Darkness

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Snow White.**

**A/N: ****I realized something after I wrote chapter 2. I put Zack in the village and in the castle. That was an accident. Cloud has now become Terra's companion and I've fixed chapter 1.**

**Chapter 3 – Prince of Darkness**

* * *

_-Terra-_

Terra marched towards the throne room. He _couldn't_ wait to hear what his mother wanted this time. (Heavy sarcasm had become a habit of his involving his mother.)

Oh, how he hated his mother. She was nothing but a witch who wanted anything she didn't have and typically got it just because she was the Queen. He wanted to smack his forehead with the ridiculousness of it all, but his manners as a prince and a soldier prevented it.

The throne room was as dark and depressing as ever. His mother kept the curtains open, thankfully, letting light into the room, but it was draped head to floor in black, even the rug leading up to the throne was black.

Heck, even the cushions on the throne, which was unoccupied at the moment, were black. The only actual color in the room was the golden frame of the throne.

But any which way you looked at the Queen's throne room, it was _de-press-ing_.

At least Terra thought so, and Cloud said so too on occasion.

Terra tried to distract himself by going over a sword routine in his head, but the door to the room behind his mother's throne opened. He hadn't noticed it was exposed before, something his mother never did. Usually, the door was covered by the drapes behind the throne even when his mother was inside.

_Something must be up,_ Terra thought.

The Queen walked over to her throne and sat gracefully upon it in all her regal attire. Her crown and gown were so extravagant Terra wanted to regurgitate his breakfast.

The Queen once questioned why Terra never wore his crown, which he thanked his father was much simpler than either of the rulers' crowns, being just a simple, thick bronze band. He thought it was stupid, and that had been his answer. He hated the accursed thing. It only reminded him he was related to his witch of a mother. Something he desperately wished night and day wasn't true despite the futility of it.

"Terra, thank you for coming so quickly," his mother said.

Terra kneeled down, as was customary of knights. "Yes, my Queen?" he asked.

"Oh, my boy," she sighed. "Why don't you call me 'Mother'? It would make me so happy if you did." She smiled, which resembled more of a childish pout. Like she actually thought she could get what she wanted by acting like a brat.

Terra ignored her, keeping his face stern and focused. "You summoned me?" he asked.

The Queen sighed again.

_Good, enough of her stupid game,_ Terra thought.

"I have a special task for you, my son," his mother said. "It requires you to travel to a village just a few hours north of here. A tiny place called Oblivion."

Terra could see where this was going.

"The spies have found news of the resistance using the village as a base of operations," the Queen said. "We've come to believe that most of the villagers are rebel allies and their leader lives in the town and that it is a woman by the name of Aqua Blue. My spies have only managed to gather that she has blue hair. That's how you will find her."

Bingo.

He _had_ known where this whole meeting was going. A stupid mission his mother would send him on just to intimidate the people who opposed her. And this mystery lady Aqua Blue was just the newest victim.

It was _literally_ his job just intimidate his Queen's enemies.

And he _hated_ it.

Terra had a reputation as the kingdom's greatest warrior for his unmatched strength, swordsmanship, and courage. Anyone who tried to challenge him usually met either an untimely end, or, if he wasn't in the mood to kill someone, a life altering injury. (Or just one that took a significant amount of time to heal.)

But his reputation was being used to make him seem like a heartless drone that did nothing but follow the Queen's orders. Sometimes, he actually wished he was like that though. Heartless and emotionless, so he wouldn't have to feel all the guilt and rage that boiled inside him every day because he was related to his mother.

It wasn't like he had a choice though. He would have to do this task because of his duty to his Queen, being a soldier and her son. He would go and seek out this Aqua Blue and take this little upstart's life.

"Yes, my Queen," Terra said, bowing his head so low the only things he could see were the floor and his feet. He didn't want to let the Queen see the rage he knew his eyes were burning with. This was something he wanted absolutely no one to see. His eyes conveyed powerful messages.

Even Cloud and his wife Tifa, who Terra considered more like his real parents as well as his best friends, didn't know about Terra's eyes.

Terra stood, turning away from the Queen with his eyes shut because he knew they still burned with rage. Literally.

Because when Terra finally opened his eyes, he saw his reflection in the mirror directly across from the throne room entrance. Why his mother had that thing there, Terra couldn't fathom.

He saw himself, a tall young man with dark brown, spiky hair, tanned skin and a muscular stature. He had, from what Tifa had said, a handsome face, the only mark on his face was a scar on his left cheek from a sword that he'd received during one of his early missions and someone, he couldn't remember, had gotten a lucky slice on him. (Terra remembered he had run the guy through with his sword in the next second, not for revenge, just because the fight was getting tiresome.)

But while all these features were relatively normal for him, Terra's eyes were never normal for him. Most of the time, they were their normal cobalt blue shade, except for time like right now, when he was feeling an especially dark emotion.

Instead of blue, Terra's reflection stared back at him with eyes the color of blazing embers.

He only scowled.

_-Cloud-_

Terra stomped into the stables angrily. And if Cloud weren't the sharpest warrior out there, other than Terra himself, he could've sworn Terra's eyes had changed color. But they looked normal the next second.

"So, what'd she want?" Cloud asked.

Terra let out a deep breath he probably hadn't realized he'd been holding. He always got angry when it was something to do with his mother, especially when she needed him to do something for her.

Cloud knew how much Terra hated his mother. The woman hardly cared for him. She'd barely even paid him any attention when he was a child, that was why Cloud and Tifa had all but actually adopted him. Cloud had been sixteen at that time, but at Tifa's begging, after Ansem had been murdered, Cloud had taken Terra under his wing and taught him essential survival and fighting skills he would need to survive in their dark world.

"You okay?" Cloud asked, speaking up.

"Oh." Terra finally looked at him. He looked more relaxed than he had when he'd stomped in. "Sorry, Cloud. I didn't see you."

"I can tell," Cloud responded. "So, what'd her Royal Highness want?" He added that last part with some mock in his voice, hoping to lighten Terra's mood.

"Assassination job," Terra grunted. "Some rebels in the north."

"Head out ASAP?" Cloud asked.

"Yup."

They were ready in an hour, with Terra's mood sinking back into the dark the longer it took to assemble the men and get their horses ready. They managed to gather five more soldiers. Terra, Cloud knew, would rather have gotten a few soldiers who were only loyal to him, but two of them were loyal to the Queen. The other three, however, were loyal to Terra.

Maybe she was up to something? Cloud didn't know. The Queen's poisonous mind was a place he never liked thinking about.

"Alright, men," Terra said, standing in front of his six warriors, all lined up straight. "We have our destination, the town of Oblivion. And our mission is to take out this rebel girl, Aqua Blue, and anyone associated with her. Understood?"

"Sir!" the soldiers said.

"Alright…" Terra grumbled, mounting his horse.

Cloud only shook his head.

_Terra, you really just need to up and tell her 'not interested' one of these days,_ he thought.

_-The Queen-_

In her private room where her Magic Mirror was kept, the Queen pulled a curtain off the wall to reveal the single window in the room. It faced the direction Terra and his troops were headed in and thanks to that, the Queen was able to watch her son head toward his destination and eliminate Aqua Blue.

The Queen had questioned the Mirror further before Terra had arrived, learning what she could of Aqua Blue. The girl was nothing but an innocent dreamer who had lost her father in the rebellions after Ansem's death and the girl's mother had died giving birth to her, praying her daughter would be strong. The girl had been raised by her grandmother in that tiny village ever since.

Needless to say, Terra would eliminate this little light, snuffing it out for eternity in her kingdom.

And her darkness would reign forever, the endless darkness fueling her and her power.

_One feeble, little light. That's all that's left,_ she told herself confidently.

If only the Queen were smart enough to turn and hear the Magic Mirror possess her reflection and utter a new prophecy.

"_O Queen, you are such a fool,  
Prince Terra is no mere tool.  
His will is brave and it is kind.  
A will so strong is impossible for you to bind.  
His path shall be full of twists and bends,  
All so he may find darkness's end.  
As he rides north, he journeys to start his true fight,  
And by his side will be Aqua Blue's pure heart of light."_

After uttering its silent prophecy, the Spirit of the Mirror went silent.

_-Terra-_

The first thing Terra noticed when he entered the village was the smell.

For the first time since his father died, the air didn't stink like darkness, like almost every other place he'd been since he'd been a soldier. It was very still there, just very, very faint.

But the strangest thing of all was not the minimal smell of darkness. He sensed something else.

Light…?

That was weird. He'd thought all light had been extinguished when his mother took over. But now that he really noticed, light was inside every person in this village that he could sense, but this particular light he was sensing was different.

He sensed one person, amongst this entire village filled with people who had far more light than darkness, entirely filled with pure, shining light.

His soldiers questioned why he was hesitating, but Terra ignored them and headed straight for where he sensed that strange light.

Terra walked around the corner of the nearest building, a bakery by the smell of it…

And walked smack dab into the source of the light. A girl with blue hair, vibrantly red lips, and snowy white skin.

She was most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.

* * *

**Just so you know, readers, this is the only time you will ever see part of a chapter from Cloud's perspective. He's not going to be too important from here on out. So, sorry about that. I hope you like my use of Cloud's favorite line, though. HAHA!**

**Sorry this is a little later than I wanted. I got on a **_**Birth by Sleep**_** kick recently. Beat Terra's story a few days ago and I'm now in Neverland for Aqua's. (And I can't wait to PWN Vanitas again. X3)**

**So, what do you guys think of this chapter? Please tell me? Pretty please?**


	5. The Only Remaining Light

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Snow White.**

**Chapter 4 – The Only Remaining Light**

* * *

_-Terra-_

"I'm so sorry!" the blue-haired girl said. "I didn't see where I was going." She bent down to pick up the paper-wrapped parcels she'd dropped when Terra had bumped into her.

"No, please pardon me," Terra said to her. He did a double take. _Where did that come from?_

Terra had manners. He just barely remembered to use them due to his constant steaming over his hatred of his mother. This girl had a strange effect on him, like his mother, who had a negative effect on him, but the girl had a good effect.

"Let me help," he offered, reaching for one of the girl's packages and a second that he'd unintentionally caused her to drop.

"Thank you," she said, smiling. _What a beautiful smile…_

Terra couldn't help it that time. Her smile was absolutely radiant, as radiant as the light the Prince sensed from within her.

"Uh… I'm Terra," he said. He did _not_ want to use his title, but she probably knew who he was anyway. That is, if news from the capital city where his mother ruled got anywhere near this backwater town of Oblivion.

"I'm Aqua Blue," she said.

Terra had figured who she was upon sight of her due to her blue hair, like his mother had said she had. But now he knew his mother had lied. (_No surprise_.) She couldn't possibly be a rebel leader. She looked no older than sixteen and she had an air of innocence about her.

"Um, I better go," she said. "My grandmother will be expecting me back home by now." Aqua Blue turned toward the other side of the street, where Terra could see some horses tied by their reins to a post. One was absolutely pigging out on the hay and oats that was available for them in the buckets tied to the posts.

"Uh, Aqua Blue—" Terra started. She turned around and cut him off.

"Please, call me Aqua," she said. "I kind of like it better."

Terra felt himself smile at her. The first smile he'd actually cracked in years. Hers got even wider, and all the more beautiful.

"Aqua, it's nice to meet you." Terra held out his hand for her and she shook it gently. Then, he remembered he was still holding the two packages he'd picked up for her and said, "Uh, would you like some help with your stuff?"

"Oh, thank you," she said. "My horse is right over there." She pointed at the horse that was gorging himself (Yes, Terra could tell from that distance her horse was male.) on oats.

She walked over to her horse, as graceful as a swan, Terra couldn't help noticing. And started packing some of her packages into the saddlebags attached to her saddle.

As Terra helped put her last two parcels away, he couldn't help but realize the light-filled girl before him was the one his mother had sent him to kill and realized what was up.

His mother had been consulting her Magic Mirror, please like she could actually hide that from him, before she'd wanted to talk to him. Terra hated his mother, but he kept tabs on her, and when he discovered what she used that Mirror for, he made sure he would use whatever information he could gather to his advantage.

He knew what Aqua Blue was to his mother. Not a rebel leader, but the Queen's successor.

_The fairest of them all…_

Terra could see why she would be considered the new fairest. She was absolutely beautiful. With that unnatural blue hair and her eyes, those vibrant blood red lips, and her flawless skin as white as snow itself.

But her heart's light was even more, in fact, it only made her all the more beautiful.

She was the exact opposite of his mother, a pure light to his mother's vile darkness.

People could search the world over and _never_ find a maiden as pure as Aqua Blue in their lifetime.

Here she was, the answer to Terra's prayers. The end of his mother's reign.

This pure, innocent girl filled with light…

"Terra?" Cloud asked from behind him. Terra turned seeing his friend behind him. The rest of their group was looking around the town for some sign of rebel activity. And judging by their expressions, Terra's three soldiers were glad they weren't finding anything, and his mother's two soldiers were frustrated from the same reason.

"Oh, you're travelers?" Aqua asked. She probably knew that, but Terra could tell she was just being polite. "Are you looking for a place to stay?"

"Yes, we are," Terra immediately answered before Cloud could say anything. A lie was better than nothing. At least until Terra could find a way to approach Aqua Blue as he needed to and ask for her help.

"The inn's over in that direction," Aqua pointed towards a small brown building with blue shudders. A middle-aged woman was sweeping outside the door. She looked up and noticed Aqua pointing and waved at her. Aqua happily waved back.

"Thank you," Terra said. "Cloud, tell the others to meet up there, okay?"

"Got it." Cloud trotted in the other direction to gather their group.

"More of you?" Aqua asked. Terra nodded in response. "Oblivion doesn't get many travelers coming through. Especially this time of year when it starts getting cold. The only ones that usually come around now are some merchants who have extra supplies we can't get this time of year, but they aren't due for another month. So, this is a rarity."

"Well, uh… thanks, Aqua," Terra said to her. "I should check on my group."

"Okay, I'm gonna head home," she said, turning away.

"Oh, how far are you from town?" he asked.

"Not too far. It's a quick ride with Cobalt, here." She smiled, patting her horse as she did. "He's a good boy."

"I bet he is with you taking care of him," Terra said, attempting to be casual, but Aqua's cheeks flushed rosy pink as he said it.

"Oh… thank you," she said, smiling at him now.

"Please, let me escort you home," Terra offered. "It's no trouble."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Absolutely," Terra said.

_-Aqua-_

Aqua had never seen, or even met, a man like Terra before. He had a dark air about him, but it was mystifying nonetheless. She found it intriguing.

He was dressed in a black shirt and a tan vest (he hadn't buttoned his black coat) and tan pants, and brown boots. Terra stood tall, at least a whole foot taller than her, and he was broad too with all that muscle. His hair was the dark brown of soaked earth and his tan skin was something she definitely hadn't seen before. She'd only seen people with pale skin, a trait of her village's people. And his eyes were the deepest blue she'd ever seen. There was only one mar on him, a single slash scar on his left cheek.

Aqua couldn't fathom why this man must've had that scar, but maybe it was just from some tussle he got into. It wasn't really her business.

Terra went to get his horse, assuring his friend Cloud (what funny hair he had, it looked like a chicken's rear end), that he would be fine. He planned to come back later, which was fine, but Aqua was slightly sad at the idea of these travelers leaving soon.

She couldn't do anything about it, but Aqua had to live with it. This man and his friends clearly had their own agenda.

Aqua mounted Cobalt as Terra, on his own mount, returned to them. "Ready?"

"Yes, lead the way," Terra said.

She turned Cobalt towards the road and nudged his side, getting him to start, before kicking him, not too hard, to gallop. Terra followed her lead, chasing her home.

_-Terra-_

Terra sat curled up by the fire in Aqua's house. She and her grandmother had really pulled out all the stops to welcome their guest. They'd put together a small, but delicious meal that felt like it had been a large feast. A whole chicken accompanied by some white rice, freshly baked bread (courtesy of Aqua's groceries), and a heaping helping of vegetables.

Terra had almost thought it was too much trouble, but Aqua's grandmother had assured him that it wasn't at all.

What kind people… How was it possible they still existed?

Terra thought the light had died when his father did and his mother's darkness had torn throughout their kingdom. But this tiny village remained untouched?

Well, almost. There were the faintest touches of darkness, which Terra remembered people had when he was really young, and there were still some people he knew like that, but they were so few. Most souls were steeped in darkness, just moments away from becoming a Heartless minion of his mother if they stooped any deeper.

But that could not be said about a single one of the people of Oblivion. They had so little darkness, there was probably no chance at all of them becoming Heartless.

Light just flourished here. Especially inside Aqua Blue.

She was the purest thing he'd ever seen. Not even a touch of darkness coursed through her.

There could be only one reason for his mother to order him to kill Aqua Blue. The Queen didn't care about the light in people's hearts existing (when it did) because it usually got extinguished with time. So, it couldn't just be that she was so pure.

It was because her light was so pure she was now the fairest of them all. The one thing his mother had never wanted to find, someone fairer than her.

She was threatened by Aqua Blue's mere existence. Something that gave Terra satisfaction, true satisfaction, for the first time in his life. He had a chance to get rid of his mother and end her reign of terror, if he had this girl's light to help him.

And he would ask her too. He just had to figure out how to do it. And how to stay a few more days without his troops, except maybe Cloud, catching onto his motives.

A knock at the door disturbed him from his thoughts. Aqua's grandmother looked up from her knitting and Aqua looked away from her book.

"Allow me," Terra said.

At the door were the last people he wanted to see at the moment.

Cloud and his mother's two soldiers.

* * *

**I probably should've mentioned this in chapter 1, but I hope, for those who know, you guys noticed I posted chapter 1 on Earth Day, or to those on deviantart who know, TerraxAqua day. I bring this up because I figured it was the time to start a new TerraxAqua project I really wanted to do. That being this fanfic.**

**And sorry, Cloud fans, I had to crack that Chocobo/chicken's backside joke about his hair. Plus, I never directly described Cloud, so my bad there.**

**And one more mistake, I haven't done much regarding Aqua's birthday since the Mirror mentioned she's come to her sixteenth year, meaning her birthday, but I forgot to include that. So, due to that problem, her birthday was the day before the Mirror told the Queen Aqua is now the fairest.**

**So, how was this chapter? Please let me know? I'd like to maybe have twenty-five, or as close as possible, reviews before posting the next chapter. For **


	6. Bloody Snow

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Snow White.**

**Chapter 5 – Bloody Snow**

* * *

_-Terra-_

"They insisted on coming to talk to you, Sir," Cloud grunted. No soldier of Terra's called him 'Prince', if they knew what was good for them. Cloud usually just called Terra by his name, but around the soldiers, he called him 'Sir'.

Not being in the mood to deal with his mother's idiot soldiers, Terra growled, "What is it?"

Footsteps came from behind Terra and he turned, seeing Aqua and her grandmother, probably ready to welcome Cloud and the others in, if it weren't for the shock written clearly on the grandmother's face at the sight of Cloud.

"Good heavens, young man! Your hair looks like a chi—Mah-kwa!" Aqua managed to clap her hand over her grandmother's mouth just in time. Terra knew what she was going to say. Terra himself had said it the first time he met Cloud, that his haircut looked like a chicken's behind. Cloud only scowled when people told him that.

"Grandmother, please!" Aqua hissed.

However, her grandmother replied by removing Aqua's hands from her and huffing indignantly. "A young lady does not manhandle her grandmother!"

"I apologize, Grandmother," Aqua said. "But a lady also doesn't comment on a friend of her friend's choices in their hairstyle."

"Young lady!"

Aqua managed to pull her grandmother back inside.

_-Aqua-_

Aqua was able to get her grandmother back into her rocking chair, but the old woman kept her gaze towards their front door where Terra was still standing talking with Cloud and the other men who had come.

_What could they possibly want in the middle of the night?_ she thought.

Saying she would boil some hot water for tea, Aqua headed for the kitchen and turned on the stove. Luckily, her grandmother had gotten water from the well that morning when Aqua went into town. After putting several cups worth of water, and shivering the one time she put her hand into the water because it was still cold, into their kettle, Aqua set it on the stove to boil.

With that done, she snuck back around to the wall, where she was just out of sight, but within earshot, of Terra and his men.

"Your Highness, it's time," the captain said. "The Queen wants that girl dead, or she's going to have our heads."

Aqua gasped. _Dead? The Queen? What?!_

"Don't rhyme like my mother's mirror!" Terra snapped at him. "And go home."

"What…? Your Highness?"

_What? Highness?_ Terra wasn't royalty… was he?

"I will not harm that innocent girl because it's what my mother wishes," Terra snarled. "She is guilty of nothing. My mother made that up to get you to come. There are no rebels here."

"My Prince, orders are orders. When you serve in the army, you follow them."

_The Prince? Terra is the Prince?! That does it!_

"You're the Prince?" Aqua exclaimed, jumping out from her hiding spot.

Terra and his soldiers were all stunned, not having realized someone was eavesdropping.

"Aqua Blue…" one of the unknown soldiers asked.

"Who else, you twit!" the other mystery man said, smacking his companion in the gut. ("Oof!")

"Aqua…" Terra looked hesitant.

"Let us explain, miss," said Cloud, she remembered him from earlier. He attempted to move past Terra and into her house, but Aqua stepped back.

"Get out!" she yelled.

"Aqua, what's going on?" her grandmother called.

She was about to speak, but Terra silenced her with by grabbing her mouth.

"Ma'am, my companions just wanted to check on me," he said. Then, he bent his lips to Aqua's ear and whispered, "I'll get rid of them. Stay in the house."

Terra released her. "Excuse us, please." And he, Cloud, and the mystery men walked outside.

"Bring her, Your Highness," one of the men whispered.

"No!" Terra snarled at him. "Leave her out of this." And he slammed the door behind them.

"Ugh… men…" Aqua heard her grandmother mutter.

Aqua was not letting this go. She just _had_ to know what was up. She made her way over to the window, to open it and keep listening to the men's conversation, but two loud screams directed her to run to the door.

Aqua ran to the front door and was about to open it when Terra and Cloud walked in.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I owe you the truth," Terra said.

"What happened?" she demanded.

"Maybe we should—" Cloud attempted to speak, but Aqua shoved past him and outside.

Where she saw the other two men lying dead in the snow with knives in their chests. Blood stained the snow around them like red shadows.

Aqua stepped back, appalled by what she was seeing.

"Aqua, listen to me," Terra said gently.

"What do you want?" she snapped.

"Listen, the Queen sent me on a mission to kill a rebel faction leader," he said. "But she lied. She wanted me to kill you because you can bring an end to her."

"I haven't done anything against the Queen!" Aqua shouted, she started backing away from him, closer to the two dead men. "I've never—"

"I know!" Terra shouted. "Both of us know you're innocent." He started to approach her, but Aqua kept backing away. Behind him, her grandmother had come to the entrance of the house and Cloud was trying to keep her back.

"Aqua, all I want is to protect you," Terra said.

She pointed at the dead soldiers. "You killed two people! And I've heard you've killed more! Why should I trust you?!"

"Because I am telling you to trust him, child," her grandmother said.

Aqua was shocked. Yes, her grandmother was perceptive, but this man had come _to kill her_. Why should she trust him?

Cloud had offered Aqua's grandmother his arm and assisted her into walking

"Trust him, child, he is true in that he wants to protect you," her grandma urged. "Unlike those two," she pointed at the dead, bloody men, "this man and his friend want to do the right thing. Now, if you're smart, you will let him take you away from this place at first light."

Terra stared wide-eyed at the old woman. Cloud looked half confused, half amused. Aqua could only let her jaw hang open wide enough that a fly could go in her mouth and she'd never notice.

Thankfully, no flies went in.

_-Terra-_

After disposing of the two dead soldiers, by burning them, which left the smell of blood thick in the air, Terra sent Cloud back to town to grab the remaining soldiers and tell them their new mission. To not say a word of Terra abandoning the Queen for Aqua's safety.

Terra knew he could count on Cloud and his loyal soldiers, but it was only a matter of time. His mother would send someone after them, to hunt down Terra for his betrayal to the Queen, and Aqua Blue to kill her. The thought of the Queen succeeding at this kept him from actually relaxing enough to sleep, only managing to get to the halfway point of wakefulness and dreams.

Terra was glad Aqua's grandmother had sense to say they had to leave. And she was up before Terra was, just to tell him that. Aqua still wasn't awake yet.

"Please protect my granddaughter," the elderly woman asked.

Terra knelt before the grandmother, drawing his sword, and stabbing it into the floor, the way knights would always make pledges to those who asked in the golden days of Radiant Garden.

"I swear, I will protect her," Terra promised. "I made a promise long before I met her that I would protect the one who would succeed my mother."

"Hmm? Care to elaborate?"

Terra sighed. He'd never told anyone about his pledge, not even Cloud or Tifa. No one knew Terra had sworn to be the knight to the true fairest one of all. But he knew this old woman could be trusted. She knew something about her daughter's radiant light.

"My mother possesses a Magic Mirror inhabited by a spirit," Terra said. "It possesses her reflection to answer any question she has for it. Every day she asks it who is the fairest of them all. And for years, it's always told her she is the fairest. But I think yesterday, she found her successor. The Queen knows that only someone who is fairer than her can end her reign. The Mirror has said this before. It's the only reason she sent me to kill Aqua. She thinks I will kill anyone because I don't care, which I haven't in a long time. The darkness in my other's heart is deep and has been feeding mine for years, I had almost given up any hope of seeing her go down. But I swore I would protect anyone who would succeed her, the only hope I had left. And I can tell it's your granddaughter. I think you know, but… her heart shines with—"

"A light that will never extinguish even in the deepest darkness," the old woman finished.

"Huh?" That was surprising, but at the same time, it wasn't. Aqua's grandmother was very perceptive, if anything.

She answered first with a smile and a sigh before speaking. "My daughter made a wish just before Aqua was born. She was out gathering wood in the deepest, snowiest part of winter. And she cut herself on a thorn. Three drops of blood fell to the snow and she said the red looked so vibrant and alive against the white and she made a wish." She took a deep breath before sighing. "Her husband came from a village by the sea where everyone had blue hair. She wanted their child to be a symbol of that and the bloody snow. She wished for a daughter as white as snow, with lips as red as blood, and hair and eyes as blue as the sea itself. And she would have a strong heart as big as the sea itself, shining with light. When Aqua Blue was born, I knew she was a wish come true. Her mother's dying wish, that is. While she made her wish a month before Aqua was born, her very last words would be her daughter's name. She died giving birth to the child."

Terra attempted to say, "I'm sorry for—" But the grandmother cut him off again.

"Do not apologize," she said. "Though I do miss my daughter, I have Aqua. I, alone, have raised her and made sure her heart's light never diminishes. I had a feeling she was special from the instant she was born. The perfect image of her mother's wish, a daughter shining and full of life."

Terra understood. He would never get the chance to meet Aqua's mother, but her wish had been granted, a beautiful daughter with a pure heart. He thought wishes never came true. He'd been wishing for years and years that he could wake up from the horrible nightmare he lived in.

And now he had the chance to wake up from it thanks to a simple woman, long since dead, wishing for the key to his mother's downfall.

The grandmother stood from her rocking chair and grasped Terra's shoulders. "Young man," she said, "I am counting on you. My granddaughter is all I have left. I entrust her life and safety to you now. Please don't fail me. And protect the last precious light left in this world."

"Are you ready?" a voice called from the direction of the bedrooms.

Terra turned and saw Aqua dressed in her boots, black pants, and a thick blue coat. She also had a navy knapsack clutched in her hands. And if Terra wasn't mistaken, a moogle doll's head was poking out of the top.

"I'm counting on you, Prince Terra," Aqua's grandmother said. "Keep my granddaughter safe."

Terra nodded to Aqua first, who returned the nod, then to the grandmother.

"I promise you. I will protect her."

* * *

**As mentioned in chapter 3, the Queen would be betrayed, by Terra clearly, and though Terra doesn't consider himself close to the Queen in anyway, as they clearly aren't that close, it is only in relation to their ties of blood. Just so that's clear.**

**Anyway, how was the chapter for you? Don't worry, Terra and Aqua will actually get some more dialogue in the next chapter. And they'll be getting to actually know each other.**

**One more thing before I get outta here. I'm going to try to have each chapter after this put up on Wednesdays and Saturday or Sunday. I think it gives me enough time for each chapter, but I don't know if I'll be able to do it this Wednesday, I'm going with my dad to visit my grandpa.**

**Catch ya next time!**


	7. Answers

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Snow White.**

**A/N: Sorry this is late. I got writer's block. But I am posting today for my grandpa to celebrate his successful heart surgery on Wednesday. Here's to you, Grandpa!**

**Chapter 6 – Answers**

* * *

_-Aqua-_

Uncertain. That's how Aqua felt when she woke up in the morning.

First, Terra shows up out of nowhere, acts like a complete gentleman towards her, and then she finds out in the middle of the night that he had actually come on a mission to kill her. And now her grandmother were forcing her to flee with this stranger from the only home she'd known her whole life.

But she decided to put on a brave face for her grandmother and cooperate.

All Aqua had put in her pack was two changes of warm clothes, an extra shirt, her hair brush, toothbrush and toothpaste, her favorite book, a very warm blanket her grandma had made a few years ago, and Mog.

When she exited her room, Aqua managed to hear Terra's final promise to her grandmother, that he would protect her. She wondered what else they had exchanged. She'd interrogate him later.

On this journey, Aqua planned to get every bit of information out of Terra that she could, about the Queen, his involvement with the Queen wanting to kill her, and what Aqua could possibly mean to the Queen that had warranted her death.

She was more scared of the Queen than Terra. Even if he was the Queen's son. And besides, he wanted to help her.

And now that Aqua knew who he was, she realized she knew absolutely nothing about him at the same time.

She didn't get a chance to ask him before they left though. Her grandmother had given them a quick breakfast of apples and a roll of bread each, also giving them each a pack of food to last a week. Terra assured them he knew how to hunt, so procuring meat wouldn't be a problem either. They were also given a pouch filled with other necessities, including medicinal herbs and bandages, salt to cure meat, and her grandmother also gave them a small bag of money, just in case.

"Grandma," Aqua said, "thank you." She embraced her grandmother warmly, feeling like the tighter she held onto her only living relative, the longer the moment could last and the longer she'd have her grandmother with her, even on this journey that could take her to the very edge of the world.

"My sweet granddaughter, take care," her grandmother said in response. She pressed her lips to Aqua's brow gently and whispered something she'd told Aqua since the child had been born, "Remember. Protect your light. Never let it go out."

"Yes, Grandma," she said.

Her grandmother didn't say another word as she walked them outside. Cobalt was eating out of a feed bucket. Terra's horse, Gaia, whom Cloud was standing next to, along with his own horse, Fenrir, were munching on snow. Gaia and Cobalt were already tacked up for riding, their saddles, reins, and saddlebags all set for a journey.

Terra managed a tiny smile at the sight of his friend. "Thanks, Cloud," he said.

"No problem," Cloud answered. "And in the saddlebags are a few extra days worth of food, for both of you and the horses, I got you each two skins of water so you'll have plenty, and tied to the saddles are blankets."

"Thank you." Aqua walked right up to Cloud and hugged him. Cloud was confused and stunned at first, judging by the look on his face, which ignited a snort from Terra. But when he recovered, he awkwardly returned Aqua's hug.

"I'm gonna rally some troops and Tifa," Cloud said, trying to politely remove Aqua from his person. "We'll be getting out of the castle as soon as possible."

"Where are you gonna go?" Terra asked. Cloud reached into his pack, pulling out a rolled up scroll and unfurling it to reveal a map of the kingdom and its surrounding lands.

"Follow this map on the route I've charted here," Cloud said. He'd drawn a line in a fluorescent green colored ink leading northwest of Oblivion to a small fortress that was almost a week's ride away. "Follow that and you'll find a rebel faction inhabiting that fortress. They'll shelter Aqua. I'll try to meet up with my group there."

"But this isn't on a mountain path, Cloud," Terra said.

"That would endanger the both of you," Cloud explained. "Following a mountain path would be obvious and would lead them directly to you. Stick to the forest and it'll be harder to find you."

"Got it," Aqua responded.

Cloud walked past them and adjusted Fenrir's saddle and straps. "I'll see you guys soon."

"Please be careful, Cloud," Aqua said.

"Uh… thanks…" he said awkwardly. He mounted Fenrir and rode away.

"Is he…?" Aqua's grandmother started.

"Always like that?" Terra finished for her. "Yes. Yes, he is. Can't change him. But I'm glad to have him around. I may be the Queen's son, but Cloud and his wife Tifa were the ones to raise me. They taught me everything I know. About fighting, how to care for the innocent, and even how to cook well enough."

"Well enough?" Grandma asked.

"I'm not the best, but I can make food taste good, keep you full for a while, and not have you throw up."

"Ew…"

Well, that was one good thing about Terra. He was raised by good people. Aqua could give him some points for that.

After one more hug and farewell with her grandmother, Aqua and Terra set off.

Aqua was sad to be leaving Oblivion behind. And because of her safety being Terra, Cloud, and her grandmother's primary concern, no one in the town could know she was leaving. She was going to miss everyone, even Demyx maybe, but not his minor degree of stalking. That she could live without.

Anyway, after an hour of riding through the mountain forest, Aqua figured it was time to get some answers.

"So, are you really the Prince?" Aqua asked, breaking the silence.

Terra took a minute to say anything, but he ended up saying, "Yes."

"Why are you helping me?"

"Because I hate my mother."

"Anything else?"

"You're also the only chance I have of getting rid of her. I don't mean you any harm. In fact… I need you."

Okay… That was the last thing she expected to hear.

It was a minute before she said, "Why?"

"It will take a while to explain," Terra said. "I promise you, I'll tell you, but I suggest waiting until night to tell you."

"Why?" She saw no reason Terra couldn't tell her now.

"Give me some time to figure out everything I need to tell you," Terra said. "That's all I'm asking for here."

_-Terra-_

When the sun began to set, Terra and Aqua set up camp in a small glen where some grass was managing to peek through the ground, but Aqua fed each of them an apple as well after a hard day of riding.

Terra had only some tarps, provided by Cloud, to work with to make a tent, but he could make do. A small niche was in their glen big enough for two bedrolls and Terra erected one tarp over the top for a roof and the second to cover the entrance. And after the tent was complete, Terra went to hunt and brought a fat rabbit for them to split.

Aqua's job was to gather firewood and build the fire, a skill she was quite adept at, having usually lit the fireplace every cold night while she lived with her grandmother, as she'd explained.

As Aqua built up the fire, Terra skinned the rabbit. When the fire was ready, Terra crafted a spit and roasted their rabbit over it, and Aqua added seasonings to give it flavor. That, accompanied by a roll of bread and some berries, made a delicious meal, and there was even some rabbit left over for their breakfast the next morning.

As they ate, Terra told Aqua about what the Queen wanted with her. She thought Aqua should be killed just because she was prettier than her.

"That's stupid," Aqua said. "That's no reason to kill someone." She burrowed into her blanket. Despite what she said, and Terra agreed with her a hundred percent, she was still scared of the Queen.

"You're right," Terra said. "It is stupid. But that's my mother for you. She thinks she's the most perfect being in the world and anything that may challenge her should be eliminated. In other words, that's you."

"How are you related to her?" Aqua said. "You're nothing like her."

Terra was glad, if anything, that she said that. It made him feel better and removed any remaining feelings of guilt that he had for believing his mother's stupid story that Aqua was a rebel faction leader.

"Thank you, though," Aqua said. "Thank you for helping me."

Terra reached out and took her small, delicate hands in his large, calloused ones. "I will keep you safe, Aqua. I promise you."

* * *

**I hope you guys like the new cover image, courtesy of **_**TerraForceXIII**_**. Thank you so much! Now you guys don't have to stare at Xion glomping Pluto for this story's image anymore. XD Aw man, I love that part of the manga. HAHAHA! XD**

**Can't wait for next chapter. Something you guys have probably been wondering about will be answered too.**

**And I know I wasn't gonna mention references until the end, but I hope you caught the **_**Phineas and Ferb**_** reference. Oh, man I love those two. Can't wait to see Sora get tangled up with **_**them**_**. Haha!**

**Sorry this is late, but I wasn't too excited by this chapter as it's kind of filler. And I had a bit of writer's block especially with my other projects. As I've stated before, I'm trying to write a book, and at this point, trying to get my notes in order. (For a few different books actually.)**

**Anyway, I hope this chapter will quench you guys' thirst for a few days. And I am sorry to say I have to rectify that update schedule I mentioned in the last chapter. I'll try not to take too long between these updates, but I have to work on other projects too. Again, I apologize.**

**STUPID WRITER'S BLOCK!**


	8. The Seven… Dwarves?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Snow White.**

**A/N: I wanted to post this chapter as commemoration to ****Snow White Sorrow**** FINALLY being released on Friday! WOOHOO! But I took that entire day and ended up finishing the book at almost 3 in the morning! Then I just got lazy. And I've had a monster headache all day but I figured I put off one of the most important chapters long enough.**

**Chapter 7 – The Seven… Dwarves?**

* * *

_-Aqua-_

In the few days since leaving Oblivion, Terra and Aqua had really gotten to know each other. Terra told Aqua that while he had an unbreakable roof over his head and good meals every day, he didn't care for castle life.

It was _boring_. Rules were enforced almost everywhere, but Terra never followed them, and he therefore got yelled at. Then, he would glare at the servants telling him to clean up or straighten up and they would shut up. Anger was a powerful thing in that castle, Aqua noted. The only thing that had kept Terra sane in that prison was being able to learn to wield various weapons, including bows and arrows, knives, axes, and his best weapon was the sword.

After Aqua told him about her life, he admitted he liked her life better. Yes, Aqua didn't really know how to fight, other than a few moves with a knife that Terra taught her, and had a decent shot with a bow and arrow, having had to hunt sometimes when she and her grandmother needed meat. Aqua would always keep the animals' pelts and sell them in town while also selling some of the meat or trading for other needed materials.

But despite a life of making ends meet, Terra thought Aqua's life was far better. She wasn't trapped behind the walls of a fortress like he had been and if it hadn't been for the Queen, Aqua would still be in Oblivion. But despite that, Aqua was glad she had met Terra. He was so solemn and angry, but he opened up with her and Terra said he was glad to have met her. He'd said that she was the first truly good person, other than his friends Cloud and Tifa, that he'd ever met.

Getting around and setting up camp was easy with the two of them. Terra would pitch the tent and hunt while Aqua would build fires and gather any herbs or any berries and vegetables they could eat. They each tended to their own horses, feedings, grooming, and making sure their physical and mental health was in order.

Anyway, after a few days of riding and establishing their routines, at high noon, they'd ridden a good distance, but Aqua was pretty sure Terra had diverted from their intended path that Cloud had marked for them.

"Terra, where are we going?" she asked.

"Cloud marked a point on the map," Terra explained. "It's for a good spot to do some hunting. I'd like to get us some extra meat for the night."

Aqua nodded. "Okay. Sounds good. And while we do that, we can give Gaia and Cobalt a break. They've been working pretty hard."

Terra nodded as an answer. They had been pushing their horses hard over the last few days. And Gaia was nowhere near a good mountain climber. Terra had taken her everywhere with him on his journeys, but if they had ever crossed mountains, which was very rare, they took a mountain path, which they weren't taking. To keep the soldiers off their path though, Terra and Aqua decided to stay in the forests out of sight.

Ten minutes later, they had tethered their horses to a set of trees with some good grass for the horses to munch on, and also close to a pool of fresh water to drink. After taking a drink themselves, Terra and Aqua armed themselves, Aqua with a bow and quiver, Terra with a hunting knife, and set out on their hunt.

They bundled a total of four quail and one fat rabbit, a good catch. The quail would be for lunch and the rabbit for dinner that night.

But as they made their way back to their campsite, Aqua couldn't shake off the feeling they were being followed. Once or twice, she was almost certain she heard an extra set of footsteps, or even voices.

"Do you hear something?" she finally asked Terra, drawing an arrow and loading it into her bow.

"I'm not really sure," Terra said. "One second it's there, the next it isn't. But just the same," he set his knife to be ready at a second's notice, "keep your eyes and ears open.

Aqua nodded, but of course, despite being the granddaughter of a woman with outstanding perception, she wasn't prepared when something yanked her upside down by her ankle.

_-Terra-_

"Whoa!" Aqua said. Terra turned to see what was wrong, only to make a bad step and be swept off his feet and turned upside down, dropping his knife, and hanging by a rope attached to his ankle. He managed to turn enough that he saw Aqua in the same predicament, all her arrows had fallen from her quiver and her bow lay next to them.

"What the…?" he said.

"I have no idea," Aqua answered, shaking her head vigorously.

"Hey!" a voice yelled. It sounded like an annoyed boy.

"Why are people in our traps?" another said, again a male.

"Are you two okay?" asked a third, a girl's voice this time.

"Get out of my traps!" the first voice yelled.

Terra and Aqua's attention was directed towards where they had entered the patch of trees and saw four boys and three girls, one of whom was wearing a hood up.

One boy, who had the angriest possible look on his face, had spiky black hair and eerie golden eyes (eyes of darkness), and skin paler than a ghost's. He was dressed in mostly black, which was the color of his pants, vest, and boots, only his shirt was a different color, a maroonish red to be specific. A knife, crusty with what looked like dried blood, was in his right hand.

The tallest boy had pale skin and long ethereal silvery hair. His eyes were a light cyan color and he was looking between the black-haired boy and Terra and Aqua. While gazing at the captives, he seemed to be admiring the rope work that had tied them up. He wore a black shirt under a yellow vest with navy pants and dark brown boots.

Then there were the other two boys, who appeared to be twins. They had the exact same face, windswept golden hair, and sky blue eyes. In Terra's opinion, they actually looked like mini-Clouds. The only difference was their clothes. One of them wore a white vest with a black shirt, pants, and boots. The other boy was dressed almost exactly the same, but with a white shirt and half-black, half-white vest.

As for the girls, the two of them had the exact same face. The same, cute, cherub-like face with clear blue eyes. They were as pale as the black-haired angry boy, but each was dressed differently.

The brownish-red**(1)** haired girl was dressed in a white blouse with a light purple corset vest and dark blue pants and brown boots. A light purple and pink bag with a yellow star dangling from the strap was slung across her body.

The other girl had the palest blonde hair Terra had ever seen. She was dressed in a white shirt and pants, accompanied by her pale blue corset vest and the ankle boots her pants were tucked into. A white bag was slung across her body and embroidered with yellow stars on it.

The last person, another girl, who looked like a cross of the twins and black-haired boy. She had the same blue eyes as the twins, but the pale skin of the black-haired boy and his black hair as well. She had a black hooded coat on, with the hood pulled up on her head, but her cute little face and black bangs were poking out. She also had black pants and boots on.

The red-haired and blonde girls walked up to Terra and Aqua first, followed by the twin boys.

"Why are two people in my animal traps?" the black-haired boy demanded.

"Would you calm down, bro?" one of the blonde twins said, the one with the white vest. "It was an accident. Not like they meant to get caught.

"She's so pretty!" the red-haired girl said. Aqua blushed.

"I've never seen blue hair before," the blonde girl said, actually picking at a lock of Aqua's hair, which she'd cut that morning to keep it out of her face on their journey.

"Alright, who the heck are all of you?" Terra asked.

"Oops, sorry about that," the silver-haired boy said. "We're just some travelers looking for the rebels. Our town was attacked by the Queen's army about a week ago. We've been on the run looking for the rebels ever since."

"Not what he meant, pretty boy," the black-haired boy said. "He wanted our names."

The 'pretty boy' scowled in response. "Quit being a jerk, Vanitas."

'Vanitas' scoffed. "I'm the leader. I'm in charge, Riku."

"Shut up, the both of you," one of the blonde twins said, the one with the black vest.

The other blonde boy stepped forward. "We apologize for our older brother's childish behavior. I'm Ven, and my twin over there is Roxas." Then he pointed at his older brother, who wore the white vest. "And you've already been introduced to Vanitas and Riku."

The black haired girl approached shyly as she said, "I'm Xion. Ven, Roxas, and Vanitas are my older brothers."

"Nice to meet you," Aqua said. "And you two?" She directed her question at the other two girls.

"I'm Kairi," the red-haired girl said. Then, she pointed at the blonde girl. "Naminé here is my sister."

"Alright," Terra said. "Now that we're all acquainted… would you mind GETTING US DOWN FROM HERE?!" While he raised his voice a little, he wasn't completely shouting at the seven misfits, but Terra really wanted to get down as all the blood was really rushing to his head and creating a bad headache.

Vanitas simply snapped his fingers and pointed at the two still hanging by their ankles. Everyone just looked at him with an expression that said, "What? You have two hands, do it yourself."

It took Vanitas ten seconds to realize no one was going to move at the snap of his fingers. He sighed and said, "Alright, Roxas, Ven, get the bluebird down. Riku, help me with the ox."

Ox and Bluebird? Terra facepalmed at that.

"They have names, Vanitas," Kairi said. "Be polite."

This time his companions complied. Roxas tossed a knife up at Aqua's ropes and they immediately severed. His twin had already helped Aqua lift her abdomen into a horizontal position so only her legs hit the ground. Riku helped Terra do the same while Vanitas tossed another knife up at his ropes.

"Well, as Kairi mentioned, you two have names," Vanitas said, catching his knife with no effort at all. "Care to enlighten us."

"I'm Aqua Blue," the blue-haired maiden introduced. "Please call me Aqua. And this is—"

"Xemnas," Terra interrupted as his feet touched the ground.

Aqua turned to him with a confused look on her face, Terra simply shook his head in response. "Xemnas" was an alias he'd created years ago, an anagram of his father's name with the letter 'X' added. He had always wanted to change his name. In fact, he would've left and changed his name years ago probably, if only he'd thought to actually defy his mother before.

"Weird name," Vanitas commented. "OOF!" Xion had stepped on his foot.

"Shut up," she hissed.

_I like her_, Terra thought.

Terra and Aqua grabbed their meat and led the seven trappers to their horses to make lunch. After stopping by the seven's former campsite to get their belongings, Vanitas managed to hurl a knife into a nest of quail, killing one and Aqua shot down a few with Ven and Riku's assistance. Now there was meat for everyone at lunch time.

An hour later, there was plenty of hot, juicy meat going around and stories being exchanged.

Terra and Aqua told their story to the seven and they told their story as well. Their village had been attacked by a branch of the Queen's army about three weeks ago (Terra knew they were telling the truth, he'd seen this invasion force leave the castle). The destruction had been crazy and the group had gone looking for the rebels seeking shelter for the girls. The boys all planned to join in their army.

"We're actually headed that way ourselves," Aqua told them. "Why don't we all join up and go there together?"

Vanitas started to comment, "Why should we—ugh!" Riku had elbowed him in the gut.

"Shut up, Vanitas," he said.

"Count us in," Xion said.

* * *

**(1)- In KH2, Kairi's hair looks reddish-brown to me. That's why I put that.**

**The chapter title is just a joke. They aren't actually dwarves, they're just replacing the dwarves.**

**Also, I was describing Xion kind of based off some of her hooded appearances in the **_**358/2 Days**_** manga where her face is exposed.**

**I am so sorry this chapter took a while. I'm having a hard time with this. Trying to write, read, play games, and kill that ANNOYING writer's block of mine.**

**And I would like to credit **_**TerraForceXIII**_**, for giving me the 'rename Terra as Xemnas' plot. I thought it worked well enough and would like to thank him for it.**

**Please let me know what you think of this chapter. And the Seven "Dwarves" that we got here. HAHAHA!**

**One final thing, if anyone sees any grammar mistakes, please point them out to me. I looked at the earlier chapters and found some. Please let me know when you see them.**


	9. Bridges and Secrets

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Snow White.**

**A/N: **_**Kingdom Hearts III**_** and **_**Final Fantasy Versus XIII**_** (now **_**Final Fantasy XV**_**) have finally really been announced! WAHOO! Time to commemorate the announcements with another chapter! And before I forget, the new **_**KHIII**_** graphics look beautiful!**

**Chapter 8 – Bridges and Secrets**

* * *

_-Xion-_

Xemnas and Aqua Blue certainly were interesting, at least to Xion. She'd never met a pair like them.

Aqua Blue came from the town of Oblivion, a small border town just like her family and friends' old home, Traverse Town. In the few weeks since they'd left, the seven of them hadn't met a single person until Xemnas and Aqua.

Aqua was certainly unique. Xion had never, and she did mean _never_, met a person like her. Yes, there were nice people in Traverse Town, but Aqua Blue had this aura about her that projected a serene kindness and light Xion had never sensed from a single person in her life before. And she'd also never seen a person as beautiful as her. Ethereal ocean blue hair, vibrant blood red lips, and flawless snow white skin. Aqua Blue was absolutely stunning.

And then there was Xemnas, who put out a dark, but protective, air. And it took no effort to guess it was Aqua he was being protective towards. But that darkness in him was deep, almost touching his core, if it weren't for that last little bit of light Xion could sense deep within. But Xion could also tell that the little bit of light was fighting to become brighter deep inside him.

The story the two strangers had given Xion, her brothers, and her friends was that they too were fleeing the Queen's forces because the Wicked Witch wanted Aqua dead. Xemnas was her bodyguard and they would say nothing more on the matter.

Xion assumed they had their reasons, but if they clarified a little more, maybe Vanitas would trust them more. He never trusted anyone initially, but he seemed to be taking it to an extreme with Xemnas.

Like Xion, Vanitas could sense the darkness and light in people. Vanitas was quite prone to his own darkness, which was why his eyes had turned form their once blue color to yellow, the eyes of darkness. After losing their home, Vanitas had gotten angry at the loss of their parents and home and he'd already hated the Queen for treating everyone else like they were dirt and she was the only person in the world who mattered. Needless to say, it sent Vanitas over the edge.

But even though he was now one stained by the darkness in his heart, Vanitas still had his old ability. But when Vanitas was seven and Xion was four, they'd ended up telling each other and swore to keep it secret. To that day, no one had known about their gift.

Well, except Riku. Xion and Riku had been best friends for years, and he was the only one other than Vanitas who knew about her ability. Riku didn't know Vanitas had the same power as she did though. Vanitas eventually found out Riku knew, though.

Riku and Vanitas had been rivals since they were kids. Riku was older than Vanitas by a year, and taller by six inches. So, Vanitas had immediately deemed him a rival when they met as children. Roxas and Ven found their rivalry a good source of entertainment. But they were usually practicing knife throwing while Vanitas and Riku practiced with swords. Xion would rather learn magic, which she was a novice at. That was how she'd met Kairi and Naminé. They were training with their village's best healing mage, Minwu and Xion had seen them practicing together one day. Xion preferred elemental magic to healing though, and had found their village's best combat magician Maria. And meeting Maria was how she met Riku, Maria's son.

Over the course of the day, Xion and the female twins had openly told their stories to Aqua and Xemnas, who listened attentively. Ven and Roxas mostly questioned Xemnas about the sword he carried and asked him to teach them to use swords themselves. They had managed to snag three when they left Traverse Town. Riku and Vanitas had already owned swords of their own and the third was for Xion. She had only been using it a week and was already better than Roxas and Ven. They'd also procured a dagger each for Kairi and Naminé.

But despite the sad things that had happened, Xion liked being on an adventure and looking for a way to build her own life. If only she and her brothers were with their parents. They hadn't seen their parents since they'd left Traverse Town and didn't know if they'd even survived the attack on their home.

Then they met Xemnas and Aqua, who were also fleeing the Queen, searching for the rebels. Xion believed them, but couldn't shake the suspicion the two of them were hiding something.

Well, it wasn't really Xion's business. But she knew Xemnas and Aqua were hiding something.

_-Aqua-_

After a day's worth of silent travel, the group of nine sat around a roaring campfire. Vanitas, Ventus, and Terra were hunting for extra meat for everyone. Riku and Roxas were setting up the tents, the seven had brought two tents of their own. Kairi and Naminé were gathering firewood while Aqua was preparing their cooking utilities and skinning a rabbit Terra had already brought back and Xion was gathering herbs from around the area for cooking, preserving, and medicine.

Aqua had almost exposed Terra's real name twice when addressing him around the seven newcomers. She desperately tried getting his new name memorized, but it wasn't like they'd discussed aliases before.

She was glad Xion wasn't prying, nor anyone else if they'd almost caught onto their little charade, because they definitely hadn't asked yet.

It was definitely nice getting to know the seven misfits. Except for Vanitas and his grouchy mood. He was actually the worst of her unwanted admirers as well. Vanitas had already tried hitting on her. She really didn't like that. It was actually better when Terra gave him a glare that would make the toughest warriors cry and Xion smacked the back of his head.

Judging by Vanitas' reply to Xion's smack, it happened quite often.

"Aaaaand we're done!" Roxas reported. Aqua and Xion turned to see that Riku and Roxas had indeed pitched three tents with precision. And with the flaps open, Aqua could also see the group's sleeping rolls, blankets, and personal bags were set up inside. Kairi, Xion, and Naminé would share one tent with Riku, Vanitas, Roxas, and Ven taking the second tent, and Terra and Aqua in their tent they'd been using since the start of their journey.

"Good job, guys," Xion said, walking back into the glad with a small burlap sack in her hands. "Now, if only we had firewood." She was met with a stick whacking into the side of her head. She smiled and looked towards the source of the stick, Naminé, who smirked back at her.

"We're right here, don't get so impatient," Kairi said. She and Naminé had returned with big bunches of firewood in their arms.

"I think we're set on firewood," Roxas said, taking a look at Kairi and Naminé's huge pile of wood. Aqua immediately took to it and started striking flint and matches, getting a roaring fire going in two minutes.

"You're good at that, Aqua," Riku commented.

"Years of practice," she replied, smiling. Riku blushed. Xion pouted, seeing Riku smile at Aqua.

"Time to cook some grub!" Vanitas announced loudly as he entered the campsite. He tossed down two fat rabbits onto the ground next to Aqua as Terra and Ven returned, also carrying rabbits.

"This all looks great," Aqua said.

"It's cooking time!" Xion cheered.

Within an hour, the half dozen rabbits were cooked, seasoned, and accompanied by a platter of veggies for everyone.

Ven and Riku were talking with Terra about their different combat styles and moves, Kairi, Roxas, and Naminé were talking about a drawing Naminé had been working on, and Vanitas was eating by himself at the edge of the campsite with the horses. Xion and Aqua were eating quietly while Riku sat away from the group with his food and a book he'd pulled out of his pack before dinner.

"Xion, you don't need to worry," Aqua whispered to her.

"What?" Xion asked, a bite of rabbit dropping out of her mouth.

"Riku is all yours," Aqua said with a grin. Xion blushed tomato red.

"Oh, uh… good!" she replied. "Um… do you have anyone special?"

"Me, oh, no," Aqua replied, blushing. "I've never felt that way about anyone. At least…"

"What, what?" Xion pushed, giggling. "Is it Xemnas?"

"Te-Xemnas?!" Aqua's outburst was unfortunately loud, drawing everyone's attention to her. Terra's included.

"Yes, Aqua?" he asked, offering a nice smile. Aqua blushed even deeper.

She couldn't help it. Despite his brooding, dark attitude, Aqua couldn't help but find Terra a very interesting individual. And his handsome face and those deep cobalt eyes… She was utterly charmed by him.

"Uh, how is your food?" she finally managed, recovering from being put on the spot.

Terra smirked. "Very good," he answered. "Everyone else?"

Compliments went all around for Aqua and Xion's cooking. Even Vanitas grumbled something, but it sounded like he was saying, "I can't wait for you to cook this every day for me."

That was met with Cobalt snorting horse snot onto Vanitas' front.

"EE-YUCK!"

"Ew!" Kairi screamed, but she couldn't hold back her laughter. Naminé held up her hand to stifle some giggles.

Riku and the boy twins snorted. Vanitas just stood up and stomped towards the nearby river to clean up, throwing his veggies at Cobalt, who then proceeded to eat them without a care in the world. Ven and Roxas kept laughing. Terra laughed, but only at Cobalt munching on Vanitas' food.

"I'm gonna get more food," Xion said, approaching the remaining food and putting some on a stick to roast it for a minute.

Aqua turned her attention to Riku, who had been awfully quiet. Since dinner started he had been looking through that small book. Upon closer inspection, Aqua realized it was a small, green, leather journal. Aqua walked up behind him and noticed Riku staring at a sketch in the book of a man with silvery hair and a woman with black hair, holding a small boy with silver hair. Aqua realized the little boy was Riku and the picture must've been of him and his parents. Across from it was another sketch of a rose.

"Riku, do you want more food?" she asked.

Riku slammed the book shut on the pictures. He shoved something into the book as well.

"Uh, sure," he said hesitantly. He quickly marched over to the fire and grabbed some food and proceeded to cook it on a stick like Xion.

"Did I embarrass you?" Aqua asked, approaching him again.

"Did you see what was in my book?" he asked. Xion directed her attention to the conversation as well.

"Was that your family in the picture?" Aqua asked.

"I miss my parents," Riku said. "I didn't think I'd get separated from Mom like that. And Dad's been away for a few months. I wish I could see them, but for now, that picture's what I got."

"I know how you feel. I miss my grandmother," Aqua said, patting his back. "But I saw you put something in there. What was it?"

Riku looked nervous, like it was too embarrassing to talk about, more so than the fact that he missed his parents. Aqua touched his shoulder. "You can trust me, if it's a secret," she said.

Riku relented. "Okay, but only you and Xion know about this. She wormed it out of me before we left home." Xion beamed proudly, earning a small smile from Riku. He opened his book again and pulled out a rose so vibrant, that despite its slightly wilted, and flattened, petals, it looked so alive and beautiful. Its petals were a beautiful pink unlike anything Aqua had ever seen.

"What a beautiful rose," she said.

"It's a wild rose," Riku said. "My dad's… dream."

"Dream?"

Riku sighed, but it was a happy kind of sigh. "A world where wild roses bloom in perpetual peace. He wanted so see a peaceful world filled with them."

"Fields of wild roses…" Aqua mused. "What a beautiful dream."

"I always thought so, but it sounded girly, so I always kept it to myself," he said. "Until Xion." He looked over at her, hitting Vanitas, who had returned, with her a large stick (not the one she had been cooking with) and yelling at him to keep his dirty, greasy, disgusting fingers out of her food.

"Make me!" Vanitas yelled back. Riku chuckled and Aqua tried to contain her giggles when Xion finally smacked Vanitas over the head with the flat of her palm.

"ACK!" he yelped.

"Xion?" Aqua asked, turning back to Riku.

"Yeah, she just has this effect on me," Riku answered. "She was the first one who ever knew I wanted to help my dad's dream come true. He joined one of the rebel groups about two years ago. But he's visited a few times and has brought a wild rose with him each time. I gave the first one to Xion, when she caught me with it, that is. I think she still has it."

"Yep!" Xion answered.

"How sweet," Aqua told him. "You shouldn't be embarrassed by that dream. The world would be better off if it weren't for the Queen's darkness. I can't imagine why anyone would like the world so full of the dark."

"No one can," Vanitas put in. For once, he didn't get smacked. "The Queen's a vile evil old—"

"Vanitas," Xion warned.

"I was gonna say 'hag', Sis," Vanitas said. Xion thumbs-upped him. "Everyone hates her. I can't imagine why any soldiers are loyal to her at all."

"Amen to that," Terra put in through a mouthful of meat.

Aqua wasn't too concerned by that remark. Terra had already clarified that he despised his mother.

"That witch only cares about what she wants," Kairi said. "The rest of us are dirt to her. Actually, we're lower than dirt. We're the dirt on the bottom of her boots."

"No, we're the dirt stuck to the bottom of that dirt!" Roxas added.

"She should eat dirt," Ven said.

"Yup," Vanitas agreed, picking a piece of meat out of his teeth and flinging it into the fire.

"Ew," Naminé said, seeing Vanitas' actions. Vanitas replied by sticking his tongue out at her. She threw her green pencil at him in retaliation.

The seven teenagers were definitely amusing, to say the least in Aqua's opinion. She was glad to have them, more for Terra than herself.

Maybe the seven of them and Aqua could help Terra let go of his dark feelings about his mother and he'd finally be ready to open up with more people.

This journey would be good for him. She just knew it.

* * *

**I figured I'd also post today for one reason in particular. It's my birthday!**

**Lots of Vanitas smacking there. I'd say bashing, but it's mostly him getting smacked. And lots of **_**Final Fantasy II**_** references.**

**For the record, I felt weird writing Terra being dark and brooding (Though, he may end up that way after Sora saves him). I felt more like I was describing Gabriel Belmont from **_**Castlevania: Lords of Shadows**_**. (Yes, I am a fan of **_**Castlevania**_**. But I've only played **_**Portrait of Ruin**_** and **_**Order of Ecclesia**_**.)**

**Guess who Riku's dad is. Go on, guess! Anyone who's played **_**Dissidia**_** should be able to easily figure it out. One quick note, back to the birthday thing: the birth flower for the month of June is the rose, did any of you know that? Well, I find it also interesting that **_**Final Fantasy Wiki's**_** featured article of the month is actually the Wild Rose Rebellion article. Funny, huh?**

**So, how's this chapter for you?**


	10. Twilight Town

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Snow White.**

**Chapter 9 – Twilight Town**

* * *

_-Xion-_

It was getting old really fast. Vanitas kept glaring at Xemnas like they were bitter enemies. It had been a week since Xemnas and Aqua had joined their search for the rebels and Vanitas absolutely _did not_ trust Xemnas at all.

Vanitas naturally didn't trust anyone right away, but this was ridiculous. He seemed to trust Aqua, enough, but still not completely. But he kept giving Xemnas the stink eye.

And it only got worse whenever someone, meaning Xemnas, asked Vanitas about his sense of direction one morning.

"So, is this the way to the rebels?" Xemnas asked.

"Shut up!" Vanitas snapped. "I've got the map and I know where I'm going." He waved the map in Xemnas' face and hit his nose with it to prove the point.

Riku snatched it from him and showed it to Ven and Roxas.

"Hey!" Vanitas yelled. Before he could try and grab it back from his brothers, Xemnas put his hand in Vanitas' face, enjoying the sight of him uselessly struggling to get any closer. Kairi, Naminé, and Xion laughed. Aqua tried, but failed, to suppress smiling and giggling.

Riku took a quick look at the map, Xion peeked over his shoulder. On it, Vanitas had marked the spot where they'd met Xemnas and Aqua, which was accurate. Then, Riku looked up at the sky and closely examined the shadows of the trees. He double-checked the map. Just by looking at him, Xion could tell Riku knew exactly where they were. He convened with Roxas and Ven, whispered something to them and they groaned, accompanied by twin facepalms.

"You do _not_ know where you're going, bro," Roxas said to him. Ven looked up in time to see Vanitas stop struggling against Terra's hand and look at his brothers and Riku, dumbfounded. Xemnas smirked at Vanitas' expression.

"You said the rebels were northeast of where we found Xemnas and Aqua," Riku started.

"Yeah…? Your point?" Vanitas demanded.

"Ever since yesterday, you've been leading us directly south of our destination."

Everyone else looked from Riku to Vanitas and back again two times before Roxas and Ven started yelling about their big brother getting them lost when they were trying to get to safety. Kairi, Naminé, and Xion covered their ears. Xemnas was shaking his head and crossing his hands. Aqua rolled her eyes. Riku just stepped back.

"You idiot!"

"We're trying to save ourselves and the girls!"

"How could you do this?!"

"How was I supposed to know!"

"Check your sense of direction once in a while! The sun is a good hint!"

This continued on like that for another five minutes, and the others sat down just to watch them.

Xion was used to it. Back home, her brothers could start an argument that would last for hours without end. Her mother used to say those boys would never agree on anything. Vanitas made it a point to disagree with anyone, especially his brothers. Maybe that was just because Vanitas had to act like a jerk and like he was superior to the others, even to his siblings. Of course, Vanitas always argued that he was the oldest. "He always has to use that excuse," Roxas would mutter.

"My money's on Vanitas dropping first," Kairi whispered.

"Mine's on Roxas," Xemnas whispered.

"Vanitas," Riku said lying down on his back with his arms behind his head.

"Let me in on it!" Xion cheered.

The bets were set and, indeed, ten minutes of bickering later ("Vanitas, just admit you were wrong!" "I'm not!" "You are too!" "GAH!"), Vanitas sat down hard with his knees up, elbows placed on them, and stuck his face in his hands. "Ugh," he muttered.

"Haha!" Kairi cheered. Xemnas passed her, Riku, and Xion ten gold coins each, shrugging to himself. Aqua and Naminé just giggled.

"Okay, so, now where do we go?" Ven asked.

"How about we start over with the directions?" Roxas asked, taking charge, he pulled Riku over and they started discussing how to make up for a day of traveling in the wrong direction and making up for lost time. Xemnas and Ven were left to tie Vanitas to a tree and stick earplugs in his ears so he couldn't hear them constantly correcting his prior plans.

This left Vanitas to scream a length of profane words that made even the dirt tremble in fear of him. That is, until Xion stuck a sock in his mouth. At that, he was left to steam quietly, as quietly as possible when a person is gagging on a sock, anyway.

"Now that's putting a sock in it," Naminé laughed. Aqua and Kairi giggled too.

"Practice," Xion said. "Growing up with him, you learn to deal with him."

Anyway, Riku, Roxas, and Xemnas discussed a new plan while the girls prepared a short meal of a small piece of bread and an apple for everyone. Vanitas' portion was put on a napkin on the ground next to him to eat when he was allowed to be untied.

"Alright, we have a plan," Roxas announced after twenty minutes of the boys' huddle, excluding Vanitas, who was not allowed to contribute to the conversation at all. Everyone looked over at him and he'd managed to spit out Xion's sock and had somehow gotten his knife into his hand and was trying to cut himself free by holding the knife in his teeth. Naminé plucked the knife from his mouth, stuffed the, now dirt-covered, sock back in his mouth, and proceeded to cut Vanitas out while Vanitas glared at her, attempting to hock the sock at Naminé's head. Too bad she'd stuffed into his mouth deep enough it wasn't coming out unless it was pulled out.

"BLEH!" was Vanitas' first response once he was free and he'd yanked the dirt sock from his mouth. Kairi threw a skin of water at him and he dumped the contents all over his tongue before promptly spitting it out all over the nearest bush and spooking Cobalt and Gaia.

Once Vanitas was done acting up, Ven returned their attention to their new travel plan.

"Alright, we are here," Ven pointed at a section on the map. "And there's a town east of here." He pointed at the spot labeled _Twilight Town_. "We need to restock on some supplies and we're gonna go there first. And I think we should rest there for the night. Get the horses some proper food and rest and after a day we'll get back on track."

"Sounds good," Aqua said. "Let's get going once Vanitas stuffs his face then."

Riku snorted at her comment and Vanitas only scowled.

_Ah, good times,_ Xion thought.

_-Terra-_

When they arrived in Twilight Town, they split into groups of three. Riku, Xion, and Vanitas went to look for an inn. Kairi, Roxas, and Naminé went to get food and supplies for the rest of the journey, which would be an estimate of two to three days. And Ven, Terra, and Aqua went to the local stable to put the horses up for the night.

Ven had a way with horses. In fact, thanks to him taking care of Gaia and Cobalt so well, Terra was grateful the horses hadn't almost died of near exhaustion yet. The boy just loved them and wanted to open up his own stable and raise a long line of great horses one day. He had told Terra all about it a few days ago.

While Ven spent some extra time with Cobalt and Gaia in the stables, Terra and Aqua went to rejoin the others, buying some hot buns from the nearby bakery on the way.

Twilight Town was certainly unique to Terra. He was struck by the lack of pure darkness in the area. It was just like Oblivion, very little darkness in any of the inhabitants.

It was all so strange. Ever since Terra had been sent to eliminate Aqua, he'd come across so many people with so much light in their hearts it was unbelievable.

Of course, none of them compared to Aqua who was as pure as could be.

Terra could absolutely not help it. Ever since this beautiful, pure girl came into his life, it was like he was a completely different person and he was meeting people he probably never would have met otherwise. Everyone in his mother's castle, save his loyal soldiers, Cloud, and Tifa, had been infested with enough darkness Terra was always surprised when he passed them in the halls and they were still human, not Heartless.

Aqua Blue was a guiding light for some reason. The light meant to lead Terra out of the darkness he'd been steeped in ever since his father died.

The way Terra felt for her, he'd never felt for a single other person in the world. She was starting to bring out light in him he thought had been long extinguished.

_She's a wonder_, he thought.

_-Terra… later-_

Vanitas, Riku, and Xion had managed to acquire two rooms at an inn. The rooms they'd found had four beds each, so unfortunately someone was going to sleep on the floor. Vanitas refused to get off the bed he'd dibbed, so Terra just volunteered, then pilfered a nice set of sheets and a pillow. He never minded sleeping on the floor, and as much as Vanitas' brothers and Riku argued, he was not giving up that bed because he was so stubborn.

The boys' room was adjoined to the girls, where Naminé was sitting quietly drawing while the other three girls were all eating downstairs with Vanitas, Riku, and the twins.

"Aren't you going to eat, Naminé?" Terra asked her.

"When I'm done with my drawing," she answered.

That quiet girl was always working intently on her drawings. Two sketchpads, one full of pictures, the other barely filled; a bag of a multitude of colored pencils; a book; a little doll that looked exactly like her; the yellow star charm; and two changes of clothes were all Naminé had brought with her when their village was destroyed. And she typically drew people around her or scenery. Kairi said Naminé had been doing it since they were little girls.

"What are you working on?" Terra asked her. "I'm not intruding, am I?"

"No," Naminé replied. She put down the blue pencil she'd been holding and turned the pad around to show it to him. "I actually would've finished earlier, but I thought I wouldn't be able to find the right shade of blue for her hair."

Terra instantly saw what she meant. The picture was of him and Aqua. He was holding her in his arms and looking at her with a feeling on his face he couldn't identify. Aqua looked very happy as well.

"Um… why are we drawn like this?" Terra asked.

"Because you're in love with Aqua," Naminé said bluntly.

"What?" Terra wasn't sure what stunned him more. Naminé's statement itself, or the fact that she said it so casually.

"Xemnas, I can tell just by looking," she elaborated. "You look at her like she's a glowing moon surrounded by stars in the night. Like she's the only thing worth living for. You love her."

Terra considered the thought. Did he love Aqua? He still wasn't sure. He just knew she had an effect on him that no one else could probably make him feel.

But was it really love? He thought his heart was immune to feeling that as he'd never been loved by anyone in his own family, let alone a village girl from a backwater town like Oblivion.

"I really don't know what to think of that, Naminé," was all he said before walking out of the room

Terra really didn't know how Aqua Blue affected him. Was it her pristine snow white skin? Her lips the exact shade of blood, so alive… Maybe it was her hair, the most unnatural thing about her was the blueness of her hair.

No, it wasn't that.

Maybe it was her heart. After all, moments before even laying eyes on her, Terra had sensed her pure light.

No… it wasn't one thing about her.

It was _everything_ about her. It was just Aqua herself.

_She really is a wonder…_

* * *

**I couldn't resist the silly argument scene. I mean, I wanted some comic relief. And two brothers, plus a sister, can really leave Vanitas feeling flustered. XD And a dirt sock in your mouth can do that too. Man, I am really torturing him here. Don't worry, I think I should be done with that.**

**I don't hate Vanitas per say, I just hate his behavior and how Master Xehanort drove him to the brink of insanity. (The **_**Birth by Sleep**_**novels elaborate on this, so if you don't know what I'm talking about, that's going to be what tells you. That or the **_**Kingdom Hearts**_** Wikipedia since that's actually where I got the info.) If anything, I really feel sorry for Vanitas. So, I'm done picking on him in here. It's just that his behavior makes it so easy.**

**Sorry this took a while. I'm STILL having book writing problems. I'm trying to find the proper angle for my book.**

**So, what did you like, love, or not like? I gots to know!**


	11. The Flaming Truth

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Snow White.**

**Chapter 10 – The Flaming Truth**

* * *

_-Aqua-_

When the smell of ash and fire hit her nose, Aqua knew something was wrong. Her eyes snapped open and she turned to the window outside her and the girls' room.

All she saw was flames and all she heard was screaming.

The town was on fire.

"Get up!" she screamed. She grabbed her boots and shoved them on. "Xion! Kairi, Naminé! Get up!"

Kairi was up first, she immediately screamed. Naminé then bolted upright and started breathing frantically. Xion immediately jumped up, grabbed one of her boots and shoved it on her foot. She then proceeded to grab her other boot then run over to the boys' door and bang on it with the boot screaming, "GET UP! GET UP! GET UP!" Then, she pulled the boot on.

Roxas barged in and said, "You saw it too?"

"Yeah," Naminé said, grabbing her bag, which she had packed up earlier, and throwing Kairi's at her as she finished pulling on her coat. "Why's the village on fire?"

"The Queen," Ven answered as he charged in. "Xemnas was keeping watch downstairs and I nodded off down there with him. He woke me up to come get everyone and he's out there dealing with them."

"No!" Aqua grabbed her bag and stuffed Mog into it, snatched her knife off the bedside table, and sprinted out of the room towards the stairs, knocking into Riku on the way out.

As she got onto the landing between floors, she swore she could hear Vanitas snickering at Riku, something about getting knocked over by a girl.

Two families who had also been guests at the inn were running out the door and into the inferno, splitting into different directions and disappearing. Aqua charged out after them, past the corpse of a soldier on the floor.

_Terra's handiwork_, she thought.

"There she is!" a voice yelled. Aqua was then grabbed from behind, dropping her bag, but she gripped her knife harder.

"Let go of me!" she screamed.

"Aqua!" Terra's voice called. A grunt and an odd squishing sound followed, Terra had probably maimed or killed someone to get them out of his way. But his assistance wasn't needed. Aqua drove her knife into the man's shoulder and he immediately released her. Before she could do more damage, Roxas jumped on his back and drove his own knife into their enemy's chest.

"Are you alright, Aqua?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she coughed through the ashy air. "Where are the others?"

"Riku and Ven are getting the girls out of here," Roxas explained. "Vanitas is helping Xemnas now."

"Let's go help!" Aqua said.

"No, Xemnas told me to tell you to run," he said. "I'll cover your back."

Aqua wasn't pleased. She could handle herself, regardless of what Terra thought.

And she proved it to Roxas too, when two soldiers came flying at her. She pinned one to the ground, but didn't kill him, she hit a spot on his neck to knock him out (something Terra had taught her). She couldn't bring herself to do it. Yes, she'd killed animals to feed her family and even the rest of the townsfolk, but she just couldn't kill another person, no matter how misled by the Queen's darkness.

That's where Roxas came in. He dealt with the other soldier on his own, driving his knife through the man's chest and then immediately threw it into Aqua's opponent's head.

Roxas pulled her up and snatched his knife from the corpse. "Aqua, you can't show these guys mercy," Roxas said. "I saw them wipe out everyone in my own home. They don't deserve mercy for slaughtering the innocent."

"But I…" Aqua started.

"Duck!" Roxas yelled as he threw his knife again. Aqua hit the ground before turning behind her and seeing Roxas' knife find another victim's heart.

"Let's go!"

Roxas yanked Aqua to her feet, grabbed his knife again, and they bolted for the forest.

They collided with Riku, Xion, Kairi, and Naminé in the middle of a thicket roughly fifty feet into the forest.

"Guys, you okay?" Roxas heaved, completely winded from the run.

"If by okay, you mean still breathing and not badly hurt, then yes," Xion said, staring at the flames behind them. "We're okay."

"Have you guys seen Xemnas and Vanitas?" Aqua asked.

"Forget them, where's Ven?!" Roxas yelped.

"Here!" a voice behind them called.

Ven came running into the thicket with Gaia and Cobalt on either side of him. The horses looked just as panicked as Ven did.

"Cobalt!" Aqua ran up to her horse and took his face into her hands. "Are you okay?" She stroked his face soothingly. The horse seemed calmer with his lady taking care of him.

"He's good," Ven reported. "Just a little startled. The barn where they were was on fire, so I ran to get them." He patted Gaia, despite her annoyed wickering. "Couldn't leave them behind."

"Thank you, Ven!" Aqua threw her arms around him. Ven, though slightly bewildered at first, returned the hug.

"Were there more horses?" Riku asked.

"They're running rampant somewhere," Ven said. "But I think they're good."

"Wish you'd brought them," Kairi said. "We could use the to get out of here."

"I've only got two hands. I can't lead nine horses at once!" Ven huffed.

"Guys!" Vanitas' voice called.

Behind

"What's wrong?" Aqua asked Terra. He was clutching his side, hiding a gash that wasn't deep, but was still gushing quite a bit of blood.

"Bandage… need a bandage," he grunted. "This thing hurts!"

"I got it!" Naminé was digging in Kairi's bag, to her sister's bewilderment, and yanked out a medical kit. She pulled out some gauze and a bottle of ointment that would patch him up within a day if the bindings held. Terra pulled his shirt up and Naminé immediately got to work.

"What happened?" Vanitas demanded. His angry gaze was locked on Terra. "Something clearly got those soldiers riled up enough to burn the village down."

"It was me," Aqua said sadly. "They're still looking for me under the Queen's orders."

"I heard some soldiers talking in the inn," Terra explained. "I sent Roxas to get all of you ready to run, but… we had a _disagreement_."

Aqua knew what that meant. They saw him and tried to get information out of him. And he must've told them he wasn't going to kill her

"And I guess the disagreement elevated to a level that got them angry enough to set the village on fire?" Xion asked.

"Yes, they know I'm Aqua's bodyguard and tried to get rid of me to get to her," Terra continued.

"Why does the Queen want Aqua so badly?" Kairi asked. "Did you get that from the soldiers? Did she commit a crime or does the Queen just not like her?"

"A bit of both," Terra answered.

"Huh?"

Terra and Aqua exchanged a silent glance. Aqua nodded, she thought it was time to tell their friends the truth. Terra just sighed.

"I became Aqua's bodyguard for one reason alone," Terra told them. "I've always hated the Queen and have been seeking a way to destroy her for years. And if there is anything I know about the Queen, she is absolutely obsessed with her beauty and she revels in the darkness in her heart. She thinks only beautiful thing should exist and it's her. She has a magical mirror inhabited by a spirit that will answer any question she asks it truthfully. And every day she asks it who is the fairest of them all. And recently, it has told her she is no longer the fairest." He turned his gaze towards Aqua. The seven followed his gaze, the truth hitting home.

"You're the fairest?" Riku asked.

Aqua nodded. "Supposedly. And if the Queen kills me, she will forever be the fairest."

"I cannot allow the Queen to have her way," Terra explained. "Aqua Blue is the last pure light left in the world. If this light is snuffed out, the darkness will reign forever."

"What a hag!" Riku exclaimed. "It's like she wants everyone to hate her."

"Like I said," Terra responded. "She revels in the darkness. She thinks darkness is beautiful and it will forever keep her beautiful. She would destroy the world so that the only thing left that is beautiful is her."

"She'll plunge the world into darkness…" Naminé murmured. Terra nodded.

"So, _Xemnas_," Vanitas started, implying a rather sarcastic tone, "why didn't you tell us?"

"Tell you what?" Terra was playing dumb, even though Aqua knew he understood what Vanitas was talking about.

"Oh, I don't know… the fact that you're PRINCE TERRA!" he shouted. His brothers jumped and Xion rubbed her ears, being nearly deafened by Vanitas.

"Ow…" she muttered, too distracted by her ears ringing to actually pay attention to the situation.

Kairi's eyes became the size of dinner platters. Naminé clapped her hands to her mouth. Riku looked uneasy. Roxas shook his head and crossed his arms. Ven shouted, "WHAT?!"

Vanitas facepalmed. "You heard me, Venny. I heard it from some of the soldiers we were fighting in town. They were angry the Queen's son was betraying them. They demanded from _Terra_, not _Xemnas_ why he turned against the Queen! He's the son of the wicked witch who cost us our families!" He jabbed his finger in Terra's direction. "We've been helping him!"

"Xemnas… is this true?" Xion asked. Terra said nothing.

"Don't call him that, Xion!" Vanitas snapped, causing her to hide behind Riku. He put his arm in front of Xion protectively, hoping Vanitas wouldn't get angrier at his sister.

"He's the son of that wicked witch and the stupid king…" Vanitas would've continued, but Terra cut him off.

"Don't say a word against my father!" Terra snarled.

Terra had the right to be mad at Vanitas' words, at least Aqua thought so. Terra had told her his story. It wasn't his father's fault. At least, that was what he told himself. He'd been bewitched by the Queen, but he'd always thought his father was a great man. The people who'd really raised him, Cloud and Tifa, were the ones who'd told him. And because they cared for him far more than his own mother did, he'd actually considered them his new parents once his father was gone and the Queen started ignoring him.

"HA! He admits it!" Vanitas exclaimed. Terra looked just inches away from his patience disappearing and ripping Vanitas' head off, but Aqua touched his arm and felt the tenseness in his arm lessen.

"Terra… you should tell them," she said quietly.

He was silent for a minute. "I needed you to trust me," he finally said. "I have no intention of ever killing Aqua. It was my job originally, but the Queen can't hide the truth from me. I knew what was up when I met Aqua. She said Aqua was a rebel leader, but I can sense the darkness in people's hearts. And Aqua has none. All rebels I have ever met have darkness, not enough to turn them into Heartless, if they give into it, but a pure heart wouldn't be in a rebel leader. I knew just from my first impression, Aqua's heart is pure and innocent. The exact thing my mother would love to snuff out in her reign of darkness."

"Okay, so why is Aqua so important if the Queen sent her own son to kill a village girl?" Vanitas asked.

"Because Aqua's pure light is the one thing that can destroy the Queen once and for all," Terra answered, stunning the seven and Aqua into silence.

No one spoke again for the rest of the night as they trekked through the forest.

_-The Queen-_

Watching Twilight Town burn without having Aqua Blue consumed by those flames left the Queen in a rage. She'd seen the events in her Magic Mirror, spying on Terra and Aqua Blue since her son's betrayal.

"That imbecile! My own son! Betraying me for that—that rat! How dare he!" she snarled.

"_My Queen, I warned you before,"_ the Magic Mirror said. _"It is not my fault you chose to ignore."_

The Queen only snarled at the Magic Mirror in response.

What was she going to do? She knew now that Terra hated her, had always wanted her gone. He'd only stayed so he could get the information needed to destroy her, if it could be done in his lifetime.

The Queen was distraught. Her best swordsman was gone. Betrayed her for the little misfit from Oblivion. Why?

"Magic Mirror, do not fool with me, now behave!  
Tell me why my son has betrayed me! This answer, I crave!"

The Mirror's green glow sputtered for a second. Maybe she had surprised it with her outburst, but now wasn't the time to consider it. She had to know why Terra had betrayed her.

"_My Queen, Aqua Blue's light is a blessing to the land,  
Now protected by a valiant young man.  
Prince Terra will protect her from forces below the sea, across the land, and the sky above,  
Such is the nature of a hero in love.  
He wished to find this light and has found what he sought.  
If you purse them, your doom shall be wrought."_

The Mirror's glow died, leaving the Queen awestruck by its message.

"Love…?" the Queen muttered. "He loves that… little… NO!"

Fists shaking and temper rising, the Queen would not tolerate that her son, her own flesh and blood, had fallen in love with her adversary. The thing that could destroy her.

She had to do something. The Mirror had to be lying. Pursuing the girl and destroying her would save her. How could doing it be her downfall.

"Well, if you want something done right… you have to do it yourself," the Queen whispered to the Magic Mirror, which glowed with its eerie green light again, but in a much lesser brightness.

Good. Now even the Magic Mirror feared her.

* * *

**I love Sora's "What a hag!" line. I just had to put it there, despite the fact that Riku says it. Sorry, Sora.**

**Though I did have a minute for Vanitas being a jerk when Aqua accidentally shoved Riku, I didn't have him get hit this time because I'm being nice. And like I said, he'd been beat up enough in the last few chapters. His smart mouth on the other hand, well let's have his baby brothers and sister handle that.**

**I wanted to post this sooner, but I got gaming again and I was on vacation earlier this month. And I have a weird craving for Japanese food…**

**I'm gonna try and get the next chapter out as soon as I can. We're getting to the good parts, believe me.**

**And guys, anyone who reads this, please let me know what you think.**


	12. Parting of the Ways

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Snow White.**

**Quick A/N: Since OmegaStarShooter14 asked, I don't really see the Queen as anyone. I gave two vivid pointers about her, Terra has her hair and eye color, the rest is up to reader interpretation. I left it open to you guys.**

**Chapter 11 – Parting of the Ways**

* * *

_-Xion-_

Three days…

It had been three days since they'd left Twilight Town. Three days since the town had been reduced to ash. Three days since Xion, her brothers, and her friends had found out Terra and Aqua's lie.

And every day had been in complete silence.

No one wanted to talk. They were all scarred by the events of three days ago. But Xion was getting on the verge of not being able to stand the silence.

Only Aqua tried talking to anyone. But she mostly received gloomy looks from everyone except Vanitas, who would give a look that was half-glare, half-sad.

And the worst part of it in Xion's opinion was that Vanitas had been right the entire time. He'd known something was up about Xemnas, or rather Prince Terra. And it was that he'd lied about his identity.

And Aqua… she was a victim to the Queen's jealousy. And their only hope from the way Terra had put it. Why was Terra hiding her? Why not train Aqua to take down the Queen herself?

Then again, Xion knew the answer to that. Teaching Aqua to kill would possibly darken her heart, which would diminish her light. Would she still be able to be useful in the Queen's demise though?

All these questions and more were buzzing through Xion's head, and she was willing to guess the others were thinking the same thing too.

When they took their lunch break, Xion had had enough of the silence and decided it was time to talk.

"Alright, guys," she announced.

"What, Xion?" Vanitas demanded. He glared at her, but Xion gave him her best glare, which only resulted in his scowl lessening, but he turned away.

"I've had enough of this silence," she started. "No one has said a word for three days. The horses have been more talkative than us. And they only make impatient sounds when they're tired or hungry!"

"That's not true," Aqua said. "Cobalt also talks when he wants some love or when he's concerned."

"Not the moment to defend your horse, Aqua," Terra said. "Xion's trying to make a point." Riku and Roxas nodded in agreement.

"Well, excuse me," she muttered.

"Well, the silence has basically been because we've been upset since finding out Terra and Aqua's dirty little secret," Xion started. "But why are we all being so quiet? I mean, sure, they hid the main reason they're looking for the Resistance, and Terra lied about his name, but it was for Aqua's safety. And frankly, I know Vanitas, Roxas, and Riku would never have let them join us otherwise. But I think he's proved himself trustworthy. He's done nothing but help us since we found them and—"

She would have continued, but Vanitas cut her off.

"Enough, Xion," Vanitas said. "Look, I don't care what he wants, what he says, or what he does, as soon as we get to the Resistance, we are splitting up from Terra and Aqua. He can plead, beg, whatever he wants, but I am not associating myself, my brothers, my sister, or my friends with _him_." He jabbed his finger at Terra. "_He_ is the Queen's son! And that wicked witch is the reason we don't have a home anymore! Because of her, we don't have our parents anymore!"

His loud tone made Xion shudder, and she backed off, wishing she could curl into a tiny ball to escape Vanitas' rage.

"Xion, we're going with them to the Resistance, but after that, they can do what they want, the seven of us won't associate ourselves with them, they can't associate themselves with us."

A sad silence passed over the group. Terra and Aqua forced themselves to look away from the others.

"I'm sorry, but this is what's best," Vanitas said. "As soon as we get to our destination, we will no longer have anything to do with Terra and Aqua."

And that was the end of it.

_-Vanitas -_

Vanitas didn't feel good. And he knew it. He knew he was harsh on his sister and brothers, Kairi, Naminé, and Riku. But it was for their own good. He'd never trusted Terra and he was right to. He was a prince, a freaking prince, and the son of the evil hag who was destroying her own kingdom, obsessed with being beautiful (even though her black heart made her uglier than the ugliest slug, now Vanitas felt sorry for the slugs he was comparing her to), and determined to kill Aqua just because she was prettier than her, which Vanitas would admit was true, but it was because he saw Aqua was good to her core, the Queen was only good looking outside. The Queen would never understand that. He wished she'd gotten the memo when she'd killed King Ansem.

When they'd gotten to the Resistance's base, their leader Eraqus had demanded Terra be seized immediately, but Xion and Aqua, especially Xion, plead he be released and they relayed the events of everything that had happened to them in the past weeks. Eraqus' assistant, a fiery red-haired guy named Axel, who apparently had a knack for detecting lies, listened intently and deemed Xion and Aqua's stories were to be believed. Even Vanitas, in his sour mood, had sworn on his grandparents' grave that the story was the truth.

And immediately, Aqua had been given her own set of bodyguards, one of which was Terra, and they'd gone to hunt for food for the kitchens. Ven wanted to volunteer, but Eraqus had given him guard duty along with Vanitas and Roxas. Riku was assisting in the armory, arming troops for battle.

Kairi and Naminé were out gathering food along with Aqua's group. And Xion had joined up immediately with the Resistance's group of mages and was practicing her magic.

Well, he'd gotten his friends and siblings that far. Hopefully, things would look up.

A fierce coughing distracted Vanitas from his thoughts.

"You hear that, Ven?" he asked his younger brother.

"That coughing?" Ven asked. "Yeah, I think it came from that direction." He pointed ahead and to his left, where an old woman in a brown cloak was hobbling towards them with the help of a walking stick.

"L-let's go help her, Van!" Roxas said, startled by the woman's sudden appearance. Vanitas nodded and they ran over to the old woman.

The woman gasped in surprise when they approached and completely stumbled over, Roxas caught her, thankfully.

"Are you alright ma'am?" Ven asked her.

"Of course, thank you, thank you, what kind young men," she said. The old lady had long, silvery hair; wrinkled, pale skin; a few freckles under her eyes; and pale blue eyes shaped exactly like Aqua's.

"We're members of the Resistance, ma'am, we can get you help easy," Ven told her, helping Roxas carry her between them.

"Please, help me?" the old woman whispered. To Vanitas, she sounded delirious.

"Of course, ma'am," Vanitas said. "What can we do?"

"I'm looking for my precious granddaughter, Aqua Blue."

* * *

**Just so ya knows, folks, adding Vanitas' perspective was a very last minute thing, but I'm glad did it. I can just picture Vanitas smirking about it.**

**I have been reading so many Snow White adaptation recently. Suffice to say, it's now my favorite fairytale. Wanna know why?**

**For one, it has an interesting moral: it's a karma story. Karma, in case you don't know, is the idea that what goes around comes around. Good things happen when you do good things and bad things happen when you do something bad. Notice how EVERY TIME the Queen does something bad to Snow White, it NEVER works out. Yes, getting the apple out of her took longer, but it still worked out for Snow White. NOTHING worked out for the Queen and she tried having Snow White killed four times. Everything worked out for Snow White because she is good.**

**And the second thing, which is very strongly showed in **_**Snow White and the Huntsman**_**. It's a story about light and darkness. Snow White is the light and the Queen is the darkness, obviously. And the **_**Kingdom Hearts**_** series as a whole seems to show this too.**

**Oh, and one more thing about Snow White that I noticed. The plot of **_**Final Fantasy IX**_** resembles Snow White a little. In regards to Queen Brahne and Princess Garnet. The Queen is jealous of something their stepdaughter (Garnet was adopted, Snow White's father married the Queen) has. In Snow White's case, the Queen is jealous of her beauty (for the wrong reasons) and Queen Brahne desires Garnet's Eidolons. Because of this, the Princess is forced to run away.**

**Freaky, right?**

**So, anyway, sorry it's been a while since I updated. College's starting up next week, bleh… but I had to update again before that started. Man, I hate school.**

**Please review if you like the chapter, or even if you just agree or disagree (but be polite) about my Snow White pointers.**

**Catch ya next time.**


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